Nightmares
by Lord Candycane
Summary: A triple dog-dare leads to the Sugar Rush racers discovering gray palette swaps inside the glitched Candy-Tree Forest. Now, Vanellope finds herself trying to make contact with these mysterious racers and make peace with them. Meanwhile, Rancis meets someone in the glitched forest he thought he would never see again.
1. The Glitched Candy Tree Forest

**A/N: I know I said I would write Scrappy Galore in a promo one-shot, but this idea came to me recently, and now I feel I should write this one first. Just to get it out of the way. **

**So, without further ado…**

**Nightmares**

"Candella, do I really have to do this?" Jubileena asked nervously as the two racers stood in front of the Candy-Tree Forest.

"It was a triple-dog dare, Bing-Bing," Candella reminded. "You and the other racers brought it up in the first place, so you have nobody to blame for this but yourself. Now, enter the _glitched _Candy-Tree Forest."

The Glitched Candy-Tree Forest took up a massive part of Sugar Rush's candy forest. Dozens of rumours and stories of mysterious happenings taking place in the forest had resulted in the forest being declared off-limits from the racers and candy fans.

But here they were, Candella and Jubileena, at the opening of the restricted forest.

"Seriously, Candella, we're restrained from entering this place," Jubileena reminded. Candella responded by yanking on Jubileena's pony-tails.

"And have you ever wondered why?" Candella asked. "Aren't you a little curious as to why we can't go here? Or are you scared?"

"I'm not scared, I'm just, um…" Jubileena trailed off and Candella yanked on her pony-tails once more, eliciting a yelp from the former.

"You're a big fat chicken, you are," Candella taunted. "Well, technically, we're the same size, so you're actually calling yourself big and fat too," Jubileena replied.

_SMACK!_

Candella's hand shot out like a slingshot and collided with Jubileena's cheek. The cherry-themed racer went crashing to the ground and put a hand to her cheek. When she removed her hand, her cheek had a white hand-mark on it.

"Go in the glitched Candy-Tree Forest before I telling the other racers you went down on a triple dog dare!" Candella hissed angrily.

Jubileena gulped and slowly got up before nervously tip-toeing towards the entrance of the glitched Candy-Tree Forest. She passed by a damaged sign that read:

**Do Not Enter - Lest Your Code Be Altered**

Jubileena shivered, then turned around. Candella was standing at the entrance, and motioned for her to continue. With a sigh, Jubileena quickly scurried through the entrance of the forest and inside.

Instantly, Jubileena noticed the differences the glitched Candy-Tree Forest had from the regular forest. The forest seemed very twisted and warped, nothing like the colourful Candy-Tree Forest the racers were used to passing through. The trees were only black with red stripes, and towered over the trees from the regular forest. The forest was very shadowy, and it felt like night time.

In short, the forest looked like the perfect setting for a horror game.

There was a large fog around the entire forest obscuring her view. She could barely see more than two inches in front of her.

"Okay, just enter the forest, and go right back," Jubileena repeated to herself. "Then I'll tell Vanellope what happened, and she'll punish that broad."

She crept deeper into the forest, shivering with each step. A small bit of her fear was replaced with interest. The forest looked terrifying, but there was also something fascinating about it. She almost seemed drawn to it, despite the fact that another part of her was scared out of her wits.

"Okay, I'm in the forest, time to go back," She whispered to herself. She slowly began to turn around to make her way out of the cave. But she stopped herself.

"You know, this forest actually is rather beautiful," She said to herself. "Maybe I could do a little exploring in it. It wouldn't hurt…maybe."

She then turned and began to creep even deeper in the forest. A she continued into the cave, she found that the forest was becoming slightly more colourful. That is, the forest seemed more red than black. The sky was red as well, and there were a few black clouds in the sky. But other than that, she hadn't found anything potentially dangerous.

"Why was this place considered off-limits in the first place?" Jubileena asked herself, twirling around in a circle. "I mean, it doesn't seem dangerous once you spend time in it, and there isn't anything that seems glitchy."

She began running through the forest, somewhat elated. "Maybe this place could even be a tourist attraction or something," She said. "The Black-And-Red Candy-Tree Forest! That sounds like a good name. And it was found by me! Maybe I'll become known across the arcade!"

Then she froze.

Through the fog, she could see a small figure sitting down in the forest. It was too foggy to make out the figure's exact appearance, though.

"Um, hello?" Jubileena said, inching closer to the figure, intrigued. "Do you have a name?"

The figure wasn't responding. It was just sitting motionless on the ground next to a large black-and-red tree. "Can you talk?" Jubileena asked again, somewhat confused. She picked up speed and walked over to the figure.

"Um, excuse me?" The cherry-themed girl said and lightly tapped the figure on the shoulder. Instantly, the figure's eyes opened wide and it jumped up, and Jubileena was knocked back.

She and the figure locked eyes, and Jubileena could now see the figure. It looked just like her, except for one thing. Her color palette was dark gray. She was wearing a dark red dress, with pitch black stripes on her leggings.

For a moment, Jubileena and her copy stared at each other in bemusement, and then, her copy opened her mouth extremely wide and screamed a high-pitched scream, nearly shattering Jubileena's eardrums.

That was all it took. Jubileena ran screaming away from the copy, all the way past the forest. In an instant, all her fear and suspicions of the forest had all came flooding back to her, and she didn't stop running even as she had already exited the glitched Candy-Tree Forest.

She was too busy running and screaming that she didn't see where she was looking and crashed head-first into none other than the president herself, Vanellope von Schweetz.

Jubileena stared at Vanellope and then screamed again. Vanellope grabbed both of her arms to quiet her down.

"What has gotten into you?" The president asked, shaking Jubileena a bit. It was then the cherry racer noticed that nearly all of the racers were at the entrance of the Candy-Tree Forest. She also saw that the scrappy twins, Danet Dimity and Donata Demit, were both holding Candella's arms.

"Citrusella told us about how you got roped into some dare that told you to enter a restricted area of the game," Vanellope said. "But seriously, why were you so freaked out?"

"A gray copy…of…" Jubileena said between gasps of breath. She had never run so fast in her life.

"Spit it out, woman!" Danet shouted.

"There was a gray copy of me in the forest!" Jubileena screamed. Everyone went silent.

"What was that?" Rancis asked.

"I was entering the forest, and then, I saw this girl that looked just like me, but she was gray, and had black hair, and had darker clothing," Jubileena explained.

"She was hallucinating," Candella called out. "Shut up," Citrusella said.

"Look, the arcade's opening soon, so let's get out of here," Vanellope said as the racers took off away from the forest. Vanellope and Rancis, however, stayed at the entrance of the forest.

"A copy?" Rancis whispered. "That can't be true."

"A few hours ago we went up against ice doppelgangers," Vanellope said, reminding him of their adventure at the Christmas game.

Rancis remained quiet as Vanellope continued.

"Something odd is going on in this game," Vanellope said. "And I will find out."

**A/N: Well, that's the end of chapter one. Tell me what you think in the reviews.**


	2. Explanation

**A/N: Whoa, already six reviews for the first chapter. I don't think that's ever happened so quickly to me before ****J**

The arcade hours passed by relatively quickly. None of the racers could get over what Jubileena claimed to have seen in the Glitched Candy-Tree Forest, and they couldn't wait for the arcade to close so they could here more about it.

The moment the arcade was closed for the day, all the racers went pouring into Vanellope's castle. Jubileena had skipped the racing and was taken to the castle for interrogation, and the racers all wanted to here it.

"Okay, so exactly what happened, cherry head?" Taffyta asked as all the racers crowded around Jubileena.

"Well, Ms. Applecake dared me to enter the Glitched Candy-Tree Forest-" Jubileena started before Vanellope interrupted.

"Which you all know was a _restricted _area," She reminded, disappointed that the racers would so quickly disobey one of her rules.

"Yeah, that," Jubileena blushed. "Well anyways, I went into the forest, which at first, didn't look too bad."

"Dude, it's pitch black with red striping, that's a clear indicator that something's wrong with it," Gloyd said from in the back of the road.

"Shut up, Orangeboar," Witchy hissed and all the racers turned back to Jubileena. Vanellope gestured for her to continue.

"Well, anyways, as I was venturing into the forest, I saw this…figure through the fog," Jubileena continued. Some of the racers eyes widened.

"I tried to talk to it, but it wasn't responding," Jubileena went on. Candlehead's teeth began to chatter as she hid behind Taffyta.

"So then, I walked closer to it to try and get its attention," Jubileena said. Licorice began to shake a bit out of anxiety. Candella, however, had different feelings on it.

"You saw a figure in a restricted area and actually _approached _it?" She scoffed. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard, even from you. I mean, anyone with any common sense would know that you stay away from the non-responding creature in the dark forest."

Witchy shot out her hand and covered Candella's mouth and then said, "Ignore her, Bing-Bing, continue."

"Oh yeah, well when I tapped it, it jumped up and…and…" Jubileena's face paled as she remembered the horrifying event. Her eye began to twitch a bit, and the other racers listened intently.

"…And she looked just like me!" Jubileena shouted, and all the racers screamed in horror.

"Wait, didn't you say she was gray?" Candlehead asked innocently. "Yeah, she was gray, too," Jubileena responded casually.

"Now wait just a minute," Crumbelina spoke up. "How is it possible that there was a copy of _you _and the copy you saw just happened to look like _you_?"

"Coincidence, I guess," Jubileena replied, shrugging.

"I don't believe in coincidences," Crumbelina said, crossing her arms. "Something doesn't seem quite right here."

"Are you calling me a liar?" Jubileena asked, narrowing her eyes and putting her hand son her hips.

"Now that's stretching it, but that does seem like a reasonable conclusion," Crumbelina stated with finality in her voice.

"Hey, maybe it was a palette swap of Citrusella, that's just as likely," Rancis suggested.

"Oh great, that's just what we need," Minty said sarcastically. "A recolor of the recolors."

"Hey!" The four palette swaps shouted.

Vanellope glitched into the centre of the crowd. "Hey, no arguing in the castle!" She exclaimed, quieting everyone down. "Now, I don't know what happened in that forest, but until further notice we are _not _entering that forest again!"

The racers backed up a bit as Vanellope took a deep breath and calmed down. "Now, you are all excused," She said, surprisingly calm. "I'll calm you back when I've made my decision."

The racers immediately exited the castle, leaving only Vanellope and Sour Bill. The moment they were gone, Vanellope sat down on the throne and sighed.

"What am I going to do, Bill?" She asked. "I mean, this is serious business. Gray palette swaps in the forest? That could never end well."

"Maybe you should go and check yourself," Sour Bill suggested with a droopy expression.

"Is that really a good idea?" Vanellope asked. "I mean, I don't know exactly what happens if you die in the Glitched Candy-Tree Forest, but it can't be good."

Sour Bill sighed. "Then what do you suggest?" He asked.

"I guess we should just avoid the forest and pretend it never existed," Vanellope said. At that point, she heard a knocking sound coming from down in the fungeon area.

Vanellope's eye twitched. She knew exactly who was knocking from in the fungeon.

"Um, Sour Bill, if you excuse me, I need to go see someone," She said and glitched out of the throne room and down into the fungeon hallway.

Reluctantly, she walked down the hallway until she reached the room where the knocking was coming from. With a sigh, she pushed the door open, and almost recoiled when she saw the prisoner.

There, chained to the wall, was Creamy Buttercap.

"Hello, President von Schweetz," She greeted with a sinister grin.


	3. Creamy Buttercap

**A/N: Well, the second chapter didn't seem to fare as well as the first with reviews. I hope this third one will make up for it.**

In a large, dark throne room with scarlet red stripes and markings on the walls and ceiling, a young girl was standing in the center of the room.

It was the copy of Jubileena.

"I was minding my own business in the forest," She whispered to a concealed figure. "And then, this girl came up towards me and…and…"

"And what, my royal subject?" The concealed figure asked. "Explain to me, Jubilee."

"And then she revealed herself and she looked just like me!" The girl, identified as 'Jubilee', explained. Silence struck the room as the two figures ceased to talk.

Finally, the concealed figure said, "You mean your palette swap, Ella?"

"No, this…thing was red all over, similar to the markings on the wall," Jubilee explained. "I've never seen a creature like this. What if there are others outside of the forest?"

There was another silence, and then the figure spoke. "Whatever is out there, we can only hope that none of them return to our forest. As for us, we will not go into their kingdom either."

Jubilee smiled. "Thank you, _Queen Penelope von Sweets_," She said, and then vanished from the throne.

* * *

Vanellope stared at Creamy, bitter. The events when she and the other racers had been transformed into glitches was still fresh in her mind, not to mention Adorabeezle's murder, even if it had only been temporary.

Creamy had healed from the injuries she had sustained after the aftermath of her destructive takeover of Sugar Rush. Her hair had grown back and her bruises and cuts were gone, but she still looked revolting in Vanellope's eyes.

"Hello, Creamy," The President greeted through gritted teeth. "You're looking better since the last time I saw you."

"You can't tarnish my pretty face forever, Vanellope," Creamy said with a smirk. "Besides, I've healed from my facial injuries. What about you?"

"I don't have facial injuries," Vanellope said, annoyed.

"I couldn't tell," Creamy said before giggling.

Vanellope's eye twitched. "Just get to the point," She said. "Why did you call me down here? Do you want food or something, because I'm not going to give you any."

"Oh please, you know me better than that," Creamy replied casually. She leaned in closer to Vanellope and whispered, "I heard about the gray copies."

Vanellope shoved Creamy away. "They don't concern you," She said. "They have nothing to do with you unless you programmed them into the game like the scrappies."

"No, I'm just as suspicious," Creamy revealed. "They seem cryptic, and I want to learn more about them."

"Well tough luck," Vanellope sneered. "You're not leaving the fungeon until this game is unplugged! You know that, everyone knows that!"

"Of course, President," Creamy said, rolling her eyes. "I don't want to go into the Glitched Candy-Tree Forest. I want _you _to go into the Glitched Candy-Tree Forest."

"What do you mean, go into the Glitched Candy-Tree Forest?" Vanellope asked Creamy. "When those gray copies are in there, who knows what could happen."

"Exactly, President," Creamy sneered. "Who knows what could happen. They could be good, they could be bad, they could be neutral…"

"I don't want to take the chance, Creamy," Vanellope said. "We're better off in my kingdom anyways."

"You don't know that," Creamy said. "That glitchy forest seems intriguing to me. Maybe you could go and check it out."

"But it says your code could get altered if you die in there," Vanellope explained.

Creamy smirked. "Like your code hasn't already been altered, _glitch_."

Vanellope seethed in anger. Having been a glitch outcast for well over a decade, Vanellope despised being reminded of it, even if it seemed inevitable. Creamy knew that, and so did all the other racers.

"Listen, you little scrap code," Vanellope hissed, grabbing Creamy by the collar. "If you're trying to put the kingdom in danger by having me make contact with those gray palette swaps, then you'll be disappointed."

"Oh, sure, I'm disappointed, Madame President," Creamy scoffed. "I'm just saying, if you're so brave and adventurous, surely you'd want to find out more of these mysterious copies."

"I…I just can't!" Vanellope said.

Creamy fake gasped. "So, the great President Vanellope von Schweetz is afraid of the Glitched Candy Tree Forest?" She said, covering her mouth.

"What, I can't be scared," Vanellope denied. "I'm the president of the whole Sugar Rush kingdom."

"No you're not," Creamy whispered. "You don't know anything about the glitched forest, and until you enter it, you're not the ruler of Sugar Rush."

"I won't do it!" Vanellope said.

"Oh, it's going to happen sooner or later," Creamy said. "If those idiots could so easily disobey you and enter that forest so quickly, it's bound to happen again."

Vanellope raised an eyebrow as she realized the truth in Creamy's words.

"Even if you don't want them to, they'll do it," Creamy said. "They'll enter that forest, and then they'll get lost, or worse yet, _killed_…"

"Shut up!" Vanellope demanded.

"It will be your fault," Creamy snapped. "When those racers disappear, others will follow, and soon, you'll have less people to rule over. Isn't that right, President?"

Vanellope inhaled slowly and glared angrily at Creamy, who simply smirked as she knew that she was getting under the President's skin.

"Okay, Buttercap, I'll play your little game," Vanellope hissed. "I'll go in that forest and find out what's in there. But don't think you've won at all." With that, she glitched out of the cell, leaving Creamy alone.

Creamy grinned. "Oh, President, you don't quite understand," She said. "I don't need to win for you to _lose_."

* * *

Vanellope stomped over to Sour Bill and glared down at him. "I take it the meeting went well," He droned sarcastically when he noticed the furious look in Vanellope's eyes.

"Get the guards and call the racers," Vanellope ordered, raising her arm and pointing out the window. "Today, we are going to find out what the heck is inside that forest."

**A/N: And that's the end of the chapter. Reviews are appreciated.**


	4. Mystery To Be Solved

Rancis sat gloomily in his chocolate bed, holding up a small brown book. Rancis stared at the cover of the book sadly. The cover read:

**The Buttercup Trio - Winning Looks and Winning Races**

With a sigh, Rancis flipped through the pages of the book, all featuring pictures of him, Creamy, and his deceased brother, Peterbelly Reese.

Peterbelly was a recolor of Rancis, but he was considered Rancis' brother by the other racers. The two had been friends up until Creamy, having become envious of the two's increasing popularity, murdered Peterbelly outside of the game.

Rancis clutched the book, feeling a mixture of anger and sadness, when he heard the sounds of a kart driving into his driveway.

Throwing the book on his bed, Rancis raced over to his window to see who as at his driveway. There, he saw the scrappy Licorice Liqued, having parked her Liquorice kart, the Liquoir, next to his kart, the RV1.

"Licorice, what in Buttercap's name are you doing here?" He shouted from atop the window. Licorice, oblivious to the obvious hostility in his voice, simply waved up to him.

"President Vanellope told Sour Bill who told Wynchel, who told Duncan, who told Witchy, who told me, that we're going on a copy hunt!" Licorice shouted up at him. "And all the racers must come, lest they be bloodily executed."

"Say what now?" Rancis said, his eyebrow raising in concern.

"I'm just kidding about the execution part," Licorice said, giggling. Then, she attained a deadpan glance and whispered, "But seriously, you better come."

Rancis sighed. "Vanellope said the Glitched Candy-Tree Forest was off-limits, anyways," He reminded.

Licorice shrugged. "Well now she's saying the opposite," She said. "Kind of like politician in general."

"Alright, I'll come," Rancis said. "But if we get ambushed by a bunch of psycho palette swaps, it's all on her." With that, he got his chocolate blazer and raced downstairs and out the door to follow Licorice.

* * *

Vanellope stood at the entrance of the Glitched Candy-Tree Forest, Wynchel and Duncan at both sides of her.

Sour Bill strutted over to her. "I informed all of the racers of the expedition," He droned on. Vanellope responded by folding her arms and tapping her foot impatiently.

"Well, where are they?" She asked. Sour Bill shrugged in response. "Oh, come on!" Vanellope complained. "I spent a whole of five minutes planning this thing, and those racers in their fudging karts are too slow to-"

As if on cue, all the racers drove hastily towards the entrance. Vanellope screamed in horror as Taffyta's kart skidded to a stop mere inches away from her. As the presidents sighed in relief, Candlehead drove up as well and her engines fired smoke into Vanellope's face.

"Oh fudge!" She complained as she coughed dirt out of her mouth.

"Okay, madam President, would you care to explain why you called us all here?" Taffyta asked, hopping out of her kart. The other racers began mumbling the same question.

"Well, I was prompted by a certain imprisoned racer and I felt maybe we should go in here and see whether or not there are actual gray copies here," Vanellope explained.

"You WHAT?!" Rancis shouted as he drove up towards her. Vanellope's eyes widened a bit as she saw how upset Rancis looked as she pulled himself out of the kart.

"You let CREAMY convince you to call this expedition?!" Rancis shouted in disbelief.

Vanellope shrugged. "Hey, she made a few good points…" She started but Rancis cut her off with a wave of his hand.

"Creamy can never made good points," Rancis said. "Haven't you learned that from last time? She can't be trusted!"

"Yeah, Creamy's probably setting up a trap," Minty agreed. "She's likely in cahoots with those palette swaps and wants them to kill us so that she can regain control of Sugar Rush!"

The racers started mumbling in agreement.

"This is stupid," Gloyd said. "We're better off not knowing anything about these gray people. For all we know, they're ghouls that want to eat our code!"

"Oh, come on, guys, we can't be so superstitious!" Vanellope said. However, the racers instead turned away from her and began to enter their karts.

Suddenly, a voice called out, "Stay where you are."

The Sugar Rush racers froze. The scrapped racers shook with fear. All the racers turned to see a girl standing in the center of the karts. A purple handkerchief concealed her mouth and nose, and she narrowed her eyes.

The racers recognized her instantly. It was Candace Mysterious.

Candace was a well-known figure throughout the Sugar Rush kingdom despite very rarely revealing herself. Barely anything was known about her except her name, and because of this, the other racers were wary of her.

"You insignificant racers shall disobey your ruler?" Candace chastised, moving towards Taffyta in particular, who shivered in fear.

"You think you have the right to refuse to listen to your ruler?" She asked as she stood in front of Taffyta. Extending her arm towards the platinum blonde racer, she flicked Taffyta's chin. Instantly, the girl toppled over.

"The Glitched Candy-Tree Forest is a place of mystery and interest," Candace continued, aiming her finger around at the racers surrounding her. "At least, it will continue to be, if the lot of you continue to avoid it."

The racers froze in fear, unwilling to say a word. Eventually, Candlehead whimpered, "But that place is creepy."

"Hold your tongue!" Candace shouted, and suddenly, she was right next to Candlehead. The cake-themed girl squeaked and tumbled away from her kart.

"Mysteries are there to be solved," Candace explained. The racers listened intently.

"And that forest," She pointed her finger at the entrance. "THAT forest is a mystery, and it shall be solved by you. Understand me?"

The racers nodded nervously.

"Good," Candace whispered. Then, before any racer could do anything else, Candace vanished into thin air.

Vanellope smiled as she stared at the pale-faced racers.

"Well, my royal subjects, don't we have an investigation to continue?" She asked mockingly. The racers nodded and advanced towards the entrance of the forest.

Unbeknownst to any of them, two girls who hiding on a tree branch, watching the racers.

"I told you there were copies of us, Tabitha," Jubilee said to a gray copy of Taffyta. The Taffyta palette swap squinted her eyes at the racers as if she could not believe it.

"They're coming into our forest," Jubilee said urgently. "What do we do?"

Tabitha stroked her chin thoughtfully, and then answered.

"Time to bring in the cavalry."


	5. Ambush

The racers poured through the entrance of the Glitched Candy-Tree Forest, Vanellope at the head. Wynchel and Duncan stood at her sides while Sour Bill lounged behind her. The other racers followed closely.

"This place looks awful," Taffyta commented. "It's just red and black, nothing else. By gosh, to think people live in this place."

"I don't even know why we're going here in the first place," Rancis complained. "If Creamy told her to go, it's likely just a trap, and we're falling for it."

"It was even said that this place can mess up your code and turn it into freaking spaghetti!" Candlehead cried.

Suddenly, Vanellope paused and turned to face the group.

"Do you want me to sic Candace on your candy-coated molasses?!" She shouted at the trio. The three gulped and shook their heads.

"What a bunch of sissies," The President whispered to herself before turning around. "Okay, the path leads this way, so we better get a move on," She said, directing the racers to a pathway through the forest.

The group marched through the forest, wary of their surroundings. Vanellope held a candle taken from Candlehead to light the way as a result of the dark surroundings.

"I can't believe we have to go into this creepy forest right after we went on an adventure in some frozen game," Witchy muttered. "What's next, a war between two racing factions?"

"Hey, the ground is becoming redder," Vanellope said, halting the group. The racers then noticed that the ground was laced with red candy of all kinds.

"I think it's blood," Candella whispered mischievously, playing off of the fears of the Sugar Rush racers. However, Witchy dope slapped her.

"Cut it out, Applecake," The Halloween-themed racer warned before the group continued on its way.

"Did you see this area when you entered the forest?" Citrusella asked Jubileena.

Jubileena nodded. "I did notice that the forest was becoming significantly redder," She mentioned. "So I guess we're entering some new place in this forest."

"Maybe they have their own kingdom," Crumbelina suggested. "One that's stained with blood like on the ground, and is filled with the dead bodies of racers!"

"DiCaramello, no racers have ever died in Sugar Rush," Vanellope reminded.

"Except Peterbelly Reese," Rancis muttered under his breath, and he sighed heavily.

"Hey, if this place is turning red, then I guess we are entering a new area of the forest," Vanellope suggested. "Maybe the palette swaps live here."

"In that case, we should probably run," Candlehead replied.

"Oh, cut it out," Vanellope said. "It's not like they bite or anything. They may be gray, but that doesn't mean they're evil."

Suddenly, a figure zipped past the racers, startling them, and vanished into the forest. Vanellope glitched towards the direction the figure had disappeared to.

"Who was that?" She asked, startled.

"It was one of the gray copies, I bet," Minty said. "They know we're here, and they're fleeing."

"Spread out, all of you," Vanellope commanded to the racers and guards. "We need to cover to cover more ground to avoid an ambush."

"Um, Vanellope," Witchy said. "I've watched a bunch of horror films, and when the group spreads out, doesn't that make it easier for the monsters to pick them off. So shouldn't we actually be sticking together?"

Vanellope stroked her chin in thought. However, before she could respond, all the racers scattered off in different directions, ecstatic.

"I think it went in here!" Sticky said, motioning for Torvald to follow her to a bush. The racers ripped through the bush like wild animals as they searched for the gray palette swap.

"Hey guys, slow down," Vanellope orders, but the racers continued searching relentlessly for the gray racer. They climbed up the red and black trees, trekked through the bushes, and took apart the branches as they searched on.

"If only Candace was here," Vanellope muttered. She then walked into the middle of the forest area and exclaimed, "Hey, guys, we're not going to find anyone by tearing down this forest."

Just as the racers finally paused to hear what Vanellope was saying, a small figure strutted up the passageway and through the fog.

The racers gasped at what they saw.

The girl was a gray palette swap of Minty. She looked exactly like her, even containing the large bow on her head. However, her skin color was a chalky gray color, and her hair and clothing were pitch black.

The racers stared in awe at the girl, who simply folded her arms and glared at them, not saying a word.

Eventually, Candella broke the tension and shouted, "We found one! Yes, we found a gray copy! Let's take her back to the kingdom now!"

However, before the racers could apprehend the gray copy, a piercing sound entered their ears. A music box had been set up behind them while the racers were distracted, and it was playing _Two the Hard Way _by _Allman _and _Cher_.

The racers screamed in agony as the music ripped into their ears like a razor blade. The racers struggled to cover their ears to block out the noise, but it was a futile attempt.

"Who's playing this thing?!" Snowanna asked, and she turned around to see none other than a gray palette swap of herself cranking the music box up to eleven, a sinister grin on her face.

"We got to get out of here!" Taffyta shouted to the other racers, but before they could, dozens of giant mirror shards were flung at the ground, blocking their way. It took all of the racers agility to avoid being impaled by the shards as they stabbed into the passageway.

Finally, the shards stopped getting thrown, but they had created a large perimeter that had boxed several racers inside. Vanellope, Taffyta, Rancis, Swizzle, Crumbelina and Gloyd were trapped.

"What are we going to do?!" Taffyta asked Vanellope urgently. "I'm too pretty to die!"

"I'll glitch outside and remove these shards," Vanellope quickly suggested. However, the racers were suddenly bombarded by small jack-o-lanterns that were being tossed from outside the circle of shards. The lanterns smashed onto the ground and exploded, releasing a gray gas that spread quickly.

"Ack! What is that horrible smell?" Crumbelina asked, plugging her nose as the gas engulfed the trapped racers. Swizzle and Taffyta collapsed on the ground, succumbing to the horrific stench. However, Vanellope managed to smash a hole through the shards.

"Let's get out of-" Vanellope started but gasped when she saw several gray copies of the racers throughout the forest.

"Sweet mother of monkey milk," She whispered in awe.

"Look out!" Gloyd shouted and shoved Vanellope out of the way as a gray copy of Gloyd flung a jack-o-lantern at her. As a consequence, Gloyd took the full force of the lantern, which exploded and sent him flying into a tree.

"Ah, get the police!" Wynchel shouted as she ran around, flailing his arms. "Wait, we are the police!" Duncan reminded. "We are?" Wynchel asked, pausing. However, Tabitha drove in, colliding with the two doughnut cops with her massive kart and sending them flying into Sticky and Torvald.

Rancis was being held by the scruff of his blazer by a gray Sticky. "Please, not in the face!" Rancis begged. However, this proved to be a poor choice of words as the gray Sticky promptly kneed him in the crotch.

Rancis squealed in pain and doubled over. "Then again, maybe the face would have been a better choice," He squeaked in a high-pitched voice and collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

Vanellope watched in horror as her subjects were floored in seconds. Soon enough, she herself was surrounded by the gray palette swaps. She could see that the gray Minty had Sour Bill easily restrained in her small hands.

"You are coming with us, palette swap," Tabitha declared as the gray racers advanced towards her. However, Vanellope had one more trick up her sleeve. Disappearing into a blur of pixels, Vanellope glitched out of the crowd. However, she was suddenly clubbed from behind by the gray Gloyd.

Collapsing on the ground in pain, Vanellope struggled to sit up, and her eyes widened in shock when she what was in front of her. It was a gray Swizzle, and he was inside an enlarged version of Swizzle's Tongue Twister, with five rocket boosters, spiked wheels, mini-rocket launchers on the hood of the kart, and two cannons containing Sweet Seekers. And it was aimed at her.

She was too tired to run and too exhausted to glitch. All she could do was shut her eyes and brace herself as the gray Swizzle raced towards her at top speed.

She was struck head-on, smashed onto the hood of the kart. She was sucked under the kart and trampled by the spiked wheels. Tumbling on the ground like a rag doll, Vanellope came to a stop, lying on her back. Her body was covered in cuts, scratches, and bruises, and she had a black eye and a few missing teeth. Her hair was messy and covered in dirt, and she felt like she had dislocated her arm.

Breathing heavily, Vanellope looked around to see the gray palette swaps advancing towards her once more. Except this time, she had no chance of escape. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she slipped into unconsciousness.


	6. The Nightmare Racers

Vanellope groaned in pain as she struggled to open her eyes, which felt as heavy as bowling balls considering her weakened state. She felt a throbbing pain in several corners of her body, and her vision was blurred.

Vanellope got to her feet, but felt something weighing her down. "What the-" She whispered when she then noticed she was chained to the floor. There were tight chains on her wrists, neck, ankles, and torso.

"Well this expedition isn't going very well," The president muttered to herself.

"Hey, she's awake," A voice said behind her. Turning her body around with what little strength was left, she saw a gray palette swap of Minty standing a few feet away from her, holding an apple toffee scented dagger.

Instantly, the door at the side of the room burst open and three more gray palette swaps appeared. It was Tabitha, and at her side was a gray Rancis and Candlehead.

"Sweet mercy of mod, they're uglier up close," Tabitha sneered. Vanellope wanted to retort, but she was far to weak to even speak.

The Candlehead copy sniffed Vanellope and then coughed. "They smell like kart junkie manure wad," She said, plugging her nose. "What do you think about this, Francis?"

The three copies turned to stare at the Rancis copy, only to find him holding a small mirror, staring at his reflection.

"Oh, I am one handsome beast, am I," He said, flexing his muscles. "Oh yeah, I am."

"Pay attention!" Tabitha snapped, raising her hand as if to strike him. Francis glanced around for a second to stare at her.

"Well, what do you think?" Tabitha asked.

Francis glanced at Vanellope with a dull look and then simply said, "Oh, she's really disgusting, and hideous, and a complete abomination." Then, he turned back to stare at his reflection and ogled at himself.

"Oh, I am one good-looking tiger, aren't I," He said, winking at his reflection.

"This is why we can't have proper conversations with you," Tabitha berated.

"Hey, it's not my fault I'm so attractive," Francis argued, clutching his mirror defensively.

"Um, guys, did you forget I'm in the room?" Vanellope asked, somewhat annoyed. The four gray racers stared down at her.

"Not at all, recolor," The Minty palette swap said.

"R-Recolor?" Vanellope said, taken aback. Then her eyes narrowed. "I'm not a recolor, you guys are!"

"Nope, you are clearly the palette swaps," Tabitha said. "We live in this once peaceful land, and then you _recolors _disturb the peace!"

"Speaking of which, where are my subjects?" Vanellope yelled frantically, struggling against her restraints.

"Oh, don't worry, you'll be joining them soon enough," Tabitha whispered cruelly in Vanellope's ear.

Vanellope's eyes widened in shock. "You monster…" She whispered. "You killed them!"

"W-What?" Tabitha asked. "We didn't kill them. They're in the other room. You'll be joining them in there."

Tabitha gestured for the other three copies to take Vanellope away. Cautiously, the three unchained Vanellope, who tried to escape. However, the Candlehead and Minty palette swaps grabbed her arms while Francis yanked her ponytail, dragging her out the door.

Pushing her into the other room, Vanellope then saw the other racers, chained up as well. Six gray copies were sitting behind a bench in front of the racers.

"There's their leader," A gray copy of Crumbelina said upon seeing Vanellope. "She's the one heading their attempted invasion."

_Invasion? _Vanellope thought as she was pushed into the center of the room. _What do these guys take us for?_

"Sit, recolor!" The gray Minty demanded, pushing Vanellope down with the other chained racers. Then, the four gray palette swaps joined the other six behind the bench in front of them.

Vanellope glanced around to see the other racers staring at her. Knowing what they were thinking, Vanellope confessed.

"I know, I know this is my fault," She muttered to her subjects. "I shouldn't of listened to Creamy, then we wouldn't all be chained up and stuff…"

"Silence!" Tabitha shouted, startling Vanellope. "You talk when you are spoken to, recolor. This is a trial!"

"When did you say this was a trial?" Vanellope asked urgently.

"Let the trial begin," Tabitha announced, her voice reverberating across the room. She glared at the racers in front of her with sadistic glee.

"Wait, before this trial begins, can you tell us your names?" Candlehead pleaded, making a puppy-dog face.

Tabitha sighed. "We are the Nightmares Racers of Horror Rush!" She complied.

"Sounds like a real upbeat place to me," Taffyta muttered sarcastically. Tabitha threw a red lollipop at her, bonking her on the forehead.

"I told you to be silent!" She bellowed, shaking the room with the force of her shout. The racers were knocked over by the force of her scream.

"Anyways, after that crude interruption," Tabitha continued, her eye twitching. "We Nightmares live in peace in Horror Rush…" Her hands gripped the bench, her nails biting into the wood.

"However, we have remarkable boundaries that we dare not cross," She hissed, biting her lips. "We keep inside the Candy-Tree Forest, and expect nothing unnatural to enter it."

She began breathing heavily. "However…" She continued. "It appears you…whatever you are…do not respect these boundaries we put…"

The racers began shaking in fear as Tabitha glared at them harshly.

"…And now, you have entered our land…and crapped on our establishment…which means you have to be held accountable for your actions…"

Tabitha paused, and shut her eyes, taking a deep breath. The Nightmares and Sugar Rushers stared at her, waiting for her to speak once more.

Tabitha's eyes snapped open and she opened her mouth wide. "HOW DO YOU PLEAD?!" She bellowed, knocking the racers on their backs.

Shivering with fear, the racers all sat up and glanced around, confused and not knowing how to answer. Eventually, Candlehead managed to say something.

"Um-"

"SHE SPOKE!" Tabitha shouted, aiming an accusing finger at her. "SHE'S AUTOMATICALLY GUILTY! THAT'S IT, BRING IN THE GUILLOTINE, BOYS!"

"Hooray for our biased judgement!" The Nightmares cheered as The Rancis and Candlehead palette swaps exited the room.

"What's a gorilla-ton?" Candlehead asked. Her question was soon answered as the Rancis and Candlehead palette swaps returned to the room with the execution device.

The racers gulped when they saw the large blade, imagining it cutting their heads off.

The guillotine was placed in front of the racers, and Tabitha walked from the bench and in front of the device.

"Okay, who will go first?" She asked, placing a finger on her chin thoughtfully. Staring at Taffyta, she grinned and said, "How about you, eh."

"Wait, what?" Taffyta said as Francis grabbed her by the collar and began dragging her kicking and punching towards the device.

"This is outrageous!" Taffyta complained. "This is a complete travesty of justice! I demand a-" She was silenced when Tabitha shoved the red lollipop in her mouth.

"Ah, put a pop in it," The gray palette swap said. She and Francis began shoving Taffyta's head under the blade when Vanellope stood up.

"Wait!" She shouted, catching the attention of the palette swaps. "Don't kill her!"

"Why not?" Tabitha asked, narrowing her eyes at the president.

"I'll make a deal," Vanellope bargained. "Let my subjects go, and _I'll take their place_."

"WHAT?!" The other racers shouted. "That's a horrible idea!" Rancis complained.

"Hm, I think the copy has some sense of morals after all," Tabitha sneered. "Alright, I'll accept this deal." She tossed Taffyta from under the guillotine and motioned for Vanellope to be taken to the device instead.

"No, you can't do this!" Rancis said as Francis grabbed Vanellope and dragged her to the device. "What will we do without a president?"

"Don't know, don't care," Tabitha said. "You should have thought about that before you entered out kingdom."

Vanellope's head was roughly shoved under the blade. "Goodbye, everyone," She whispered sadly as Tabitha prepared to drop the blade on her neck.

"May this be a lesson to you all!" Tabitha shouted at the racers as she prepared to execute the glitchy president. "Never again will you-"

"STOP!" A voice interrupted. Everyone, even Vanellope, snapped their heads at the door, which had been kicked open. A small but imposing figure stood at the doorway.

"Oh my mod," Vanellope said in shock. There, wearing a black gown and wielding a black and red staff, was the gray palette swap of Vanellope.

"What the heck are you?" Taffyta asked idiotically.

"I am Queen Penelope von Sweets, missy," The Nightmare Queen introduced. "And this trial stops _now_."

**A/N: End of chapter six. Please R&R.**


	7. The Nightmare Queen

**A/N: I'm glad my story is becoming so popular. I don't think I've ever gotten this amount of reviews in such a short time. **

There was silence in the room. The only sound was the wind as it breezed through the open door. Everyone was silent at the Nightmare Queen's affirmative tone. Even Tabitha was speechless.

Vanellope took the opportunity to crawl from under the guillotine. Breathing heavily, she glanced at the Nightmare Queen and noticed a few more of her features. She was dressed heavily in black, with a few red stripes on her gown. She had a spiky lace collar, and a small cape. She oddly enough had no crown. However, the red stripes on her gown specifically resembled one.

Vanellope cringed. The crown shape reminded her of the crown worn by Turbo in his King Candy disguise. However, ignoring it, she found that Penelope's dress looked far more elegant than her own Princess costume, which she hardly wore anyways.

Her thoughts were cut off, however, when Tabitha finally felt to urge to speak. "Your Highness," She gulped, clearly nervous. "We, uh, we didn't expect your arrival."

Penelope simply glared at her, annoyed. "Would you care to explain why you have the guillotine out?" She asked, gesturing her hand at her.

"Oh, we were just, uh…" Tabitha mumbled, at a loss of words. Vanellope just stared at her, bemused. The once loud and abrasive Taffyta palette swap was suddenly muttering and cowering.

"They were trying to beat us up," The Candlehead palette swap butted in, trying to help Tabitha's case.

"Yeah, exactly," Tabitha agreed, nodding. "They entered our kingdom with obviously malevolent intentions, so we had to take matters into our own hands."

"And you didn't notify me, why?" Penelope asked, a deadpan look on her face.

Tabitha's skin paled a bit, and she struggled to find a way to answer her queen. It appeared her lack of a response irked Penelope, who approached Tabitha slowly.

Tabitha whimpered as Penelope came inches away from her. Penelope closed in on Tabitha as the other Nightmare Racers watched on intently.

All that happened was that Penelope said, "Don't ever make a public decision without my information again, understand?"

Tabitha nodded, and Penelope strutted past her. Vanellope's pupils shrunk in fear when she saw that the Nightmare Queen was now approaching her.

Vanellope felt her insides emptied. If the prideful Tabitha cowered at being confronted by Penelope, what horrors could she inflict upon her counterpart?

Penelope stood in front of Vanellope and narrowed her eyes at her. Vanellope gulped. Penelope looked like a ghoul, what with her stone gray skin and black attire.

Penelope stared hard at her counterpart, and then whispered, "Kneel."

Vanellope may have been the president of Sugar Rush, but she realized that in this part of the game, her status meant nothing. Reluctantly, she kneeled down in front of Penelope, and turned around and silently signaled for the other racers to follow.

"Don't worry guys, we'll be out of this in no time," Vanellope reassured her frightened subjects. However, it appeared she had spoken too soon as the Nightmare Queen promptly latched her staff into Vanellope's hoodie.

"H-Hey, what are you doing?!" Vanellope asked, awestruck, as Penelope forcibly dragged her through the room. Vanellope struggled and squirmed, but Penelope dragged her out through the open door with ease.

"Hey, stop!" Rancis shouted, but the Nightmare Racers blocked him and the others. "Vanellope, NO!" He shouted before he was engulfed by Francis and Tabitha.

* * *

Once the two rulers were outside, Penelope released Vanellope's hoodie. Instantly, the president jumped up and took a fighting stance.

"You want a piece of me, huh?" She challenged Penelope, who had an un-interested look on her face. Vanellope did a few kick and punch moves in the air and shouted, "You messed with the wrong president! Prepare to feel the-"

Vanellope was cut off when Penelope casually performed the Vulcan nerve pinch on her. "Oh my mod," She squeaked quickly before collapsing on the ground, twitching.

"I don't have time for your silly games, recolor," Penelope scoffed, folding her arms. "You're the Queen of your kingdom, I expected better from you."

Vanellope would've responded, but she was still recovering from the nerve pinch. Penelope grabbed Vanellope by the collar and began dragging her through the town of Horror Rush.

Vanellope glanced around as she was pulled through town. She noticed several aspects of Horror Rush. It was incredibly large, and all the houses were double the size of even Taffyta's strawberry mansion, the second largest building in Sugar Rush aside from Vanellope's castle. There were several giant trees in the town, all of which were spiked and coloured red and black. The sky was black, and there were multiple red clouds. But, above all, everything was black and red.

"You seem to have a pretty blunt color scheme," Vanellope mentioned to the Nightmare Queen. "Everything's red and black; nothing else."

"Shut up," Penelope snapped without even looking down at her. Vanellope rolled her eyes a bit and then noticed a few candy fans in the town. They looked more threatening than the candy fans in the Sugar Rush kingdom, but oddly enough, they fled when they saw Vanellope.

"Why is everyone so intimidated by us?" Vanellope muttered quietly to herself. Penelope stopped and announced, "Well, we're here. The Horror Acropolis."

Vanellope glanced up and her mouth hit the floor when she saw the Horror Acropolis. The place was enormous; likely ten kilometres wide and six miles high. There were dozens of windows and a large tower stood magnificently at the top of the castle.

Vanellope felt a twinge of envy. Her castle was practically dwarfed by the Horror Acropolis. In fact, just about everything in her kingdom seemed to be dwarfed by Horror Rush.

Penelope unexpectedly resumed dragging her up the large steps leading to the Horror Acropolis. The back of Vanellope's head banged against the staircase as she was roughly pulled up the steps.

"You *oof*, know I can *ow*, walk, right?" Vanellope muttered in-between her head hitting the stairs. Penelope just shrugged in response. The two finally reaches the doors leading inside.

"Now, apparent leader, we are going to consult my primary advisor," Penelope said. Vanellope raised an eyebrow. She had a good idea who that would be.

"Sour Bill?" She suggested. Penelope shook her head. "No, you idiot," She insulted. "It's SORE Bill."

"Yeah, sure thing," Vanellope said. "I should really notify you of our names," Penelope said. "But only afterwards." With that, she kicked the doors open and she dragged Vanellope into the massive palace.

Not long after entering, Vanellope noticed gray palette swaps of Wynchel and Duncan, sweeping dust with some lollipop brooms.

"Hey, it's the doughnut cops," Vanellope said. "I thought they were the chief of police?"

"Not anymore," Penelope explained. "They were so inept at their job they couldn't catch a stray gummy bear, so they were demoted to janitor."

"That's harsh," Vanellope mumbled. "No more talking, we're about to meet him," Penelope said. She quickened her pace, yanking Vanellope across the floor until the two finally met the gray palette swap of Sour Bill.

Vanellope squinted her eyes when she saw Sore Bill. He looked like Sour Bill, except for the obvious gray skin, but something irked her. Sore Bill simply lay motionless in the corner, a drowsy expression on his face. His eyes were only half-open, and his mouth hung open, his tongue hanging out. He practically looked like a statue.

"Greetings, Sore Bill, I would like to ask you of something," Penelope said, seemingly unaware of Sour Bill's frozen appearance. She received no response from Bill.

"It has come to my attention that palette swaps have gotten loose in our game, but we have successfully detained several of them, including their leader," Penelope said, pulling Vanellope in front of Bill for emphasis. Again, Sore Bill didn't respond.

"As you are my main advisor, I would like to ask what you think we should do with our prisoners," Penelope said. Sore Bill simply lay in the corner, not responding.

Penelope let go of Vanellope and leaned in closer to Sore Bill, turning so her ear faced him. She cupped her hand around her ear as she listened for an answer.

"Yeah, uh-huh, I see…" Penelope whispered to Sore Bill as if he was talking to her. Vanellope raised an eyebrow at her counterpart, confused.

Penelope stood up. "Sore Bill has decreed that to avoid hostilities, you and the other racers will have to remain with us for the time being to attempt to reach peace," She announced.

Vanellope sighed in relief until she fully comprehended what she said, "WHAT?!" Vanellope shouted. "We can't stay with you! We have races to participate in!"

Penelope leaned in on Sore Bill once more, then stood up again. "He has added that you can leave Horror Rush during game-hours," She said. "Oh, and you can leave the game for a maximum of two hours after the arcade closes."

Vanellope sighed again, but Penelope approached her. "Don't get her hopes up yet," Penelope snapped. "Make one slip up with me, and your subjects WILL pay."

Vanellope gulped. "What have I done?" She whispered to herself.

**A/N: End of chapter seven. R&R.**


	8. The Horror of the Rush

The Sugar Rush Racers were shovelled out of Tabitha's house by the Nightmares. They were still chained-up and practically immobilized.

"Unhand us you simpletons!" Taffyta demanded. A few of the Nightmares simply smirked in response, but before anyone could do anything else, a horn sounded from the Horror Acropolis.

"Oh great, it's Penelope again," Tabitha sneered, turning to face the large castle. "I wonder what she has to say this time?"

As the racers turned to face the castle, Penelope appeared from the balcony. In her hand was a megaphone made from sour keys.

"ATTENTION, CITIZENS OF HORROR RUSH!" The Nightmare Queen's shouted through the megaphone, increasing her voice a hundredfold. "I HAVE CONSULTED WITH THE SUGAR RUSH RACERS' LEADER AND MY MAIN ADVISOR, SORE BILL! IT HAS BEEN DECREED THAT UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE, THE SUGAR RUSH RACERS ARE NOT OUR PRISONERS!"

"What?!" The Nightmare Racers asked simultaneously.

"THEY WILL REMAIN WITH US, BUT LIMITED HOSTILITIES ARE PERMITTED AGAINST THEM UNTIL PEACE CAN BE MAINTAINED!" Penelope shouted once more. "THEY WILL BE INTRODUCED TO OUR CULTURE AND HOPEFULLY FIGHTING CAN BE AVOIDED!"

The Sugar Rush Racers smiled a bit. "Did you hear that, Tabitha?" Taffyta asked her fuming counterpart. "We're not prisoners anymore. Now, would you like to unchain us now?"

Tabitha gritted her teeth, but reluctantly took the key and unlocked the chains binding the racers. Soon, they were all free, and they jumped around, ecstatic.

"We're finally free!" Jubileena said. "Let's go home!"

"Ah, ah, ah," Jubilee responded. "Our queen says you have to remain with us. And you can't break one of the queen's commandments, now can you."

A few of the Sugar Rush Racers paled a bit. "But what about the races?" Adorabeezle asked. "We need to be in them or our game may go out of order."

"I don't know," Jubilee said. "Consult the Nightmare Queen if you want to complain."

"Fine, we will," Taffyta said, and the Sugar Rush Racers left down the road and towards the Horror Acropolis, leaving the Nightmare Racers at Tabitha's house.

"So, what do we do now?" The Minty palette swap asked. "Well, if we really want to introduce them to us, I think I know just the right way," The Snowanna palette swap suggested.

* * *

The racers shuffled through the town, attempting to ignore how cryptic everything looked. The Horror fans ignored the racers, going on with their business.

Just as the racers reached the steps of the Horror Acropolis, they saw Penelope plaster a paper on the wall of the castle.

"Hey, we need to have a word with you," Taffyta said. "Oh, you're here," Penelope said, not bothering to turn and acknowledge them. "Just in time, because I have something to show you." She finished plastering the paper on the wall and stepped away.

"Um, what is it?" Taffyta asked.

"Since you didn't really know our names all that well, I decided to inform you of them with this paper," Penelope explained. "Your leader told me your names, so I put the names of your counterparts."

The Sugar Rush Racers bolted up the stairs to see the paper, desperate to know the names of their gray counterparts. The crowded around the paper and saw the names of them:

**Penelope von Schweetz - Vanellope von Schweetz**

**Tabitha Morton - Taffyta Muttonfudge**

**Kendall - Candlehead**

**Francis Butter - Rancis Fluggerbutter**

**Jubilee Bin-Bin - Jubileena Bing-Bing**

**Joanna Rainbow - Snowanna Rainbeau **

**Cymbeline Di Caramel - Crumbelina DiCaramello **

**Lloyd Boar - Gloyd Orangeboar**

**Swiss Malacca - Swizzle Malarkey **

**Mindy Saki - Minty Zaki **

**Zadora Beezle - Adorabeezle Winterpop **

**Citrus Pucker - Citrusella Flugpucker**

**Tovar Batten - Torvald Batterbutter**

**Vicky Snit - Sticky Wipplesnit**

**Nougat Bumble - Nougetsia Brumblestain**

"You sure those are their names?" Taffyta asked. "They sound funny."

"So do yours, so you shouldn't be talking," Penelope said. "If you excuse me, I have a meeting to attend to with somebody." With that, she vanished into the door, leaving the Sugar Rush Racers outside.

"Hey, we didn't even get to talk about what we wanted to talk about!" Taffyta screeched. Suddenly, a burst of smoke appeared and engulfed the racers.

"Oh, crap, this better not be prank from my counterpart," Gloyd said, plugging his nose. When the smoke cleared, they saw Joanna standing in front of them, a guitar slung around her shoulder.

"Greetings, Sugar Rush Racers," She said with a smile.

"You sound chillingly happy considering not long ago you and your friends tried to execute us," Taffyta claimed.

Joanna just shrugged. "Well, our queen says we have to be nice to you," She reminded. "So, in an effort not to displease her, we have decided to give you guys an introduction to Horror Rush."

"How are you going to do that?" Snowanna asked her counterpart. Joanna simply grinned and took the guitar in her hands.

"Oh mod no," Rancis whispered.

"We Nightmares agreed that the best way to introduce you to Horror Rush…" Joanna said. "…Was with a musical number."

"Say what now?" Gloyd asked. Joanna simply traced her hands on the guitar.

"No, can't there be another way?" Taffyta pleaded. Joanna opened her mouth to sing.

"Come on, this is what happens in those Disney flicks," Rancis begged. Ignoring the pleas from the Sugar Rush Racers, Joanna began to sing.

_**The Horror of the Rush by Joanna Rainbow**_

_**Deep in the thicket of the Glitched Candy Tree Forest, bushes looking sharp and trees looking sorest**_

_**There lives a society of awesome racers, whose awe-inspiring feats can crush thousands of glaciers**_

"Isn't that a little arrogant?" Snowanna asked. "Shut up and let me sing," Joanna responded.

_**They're sleek and they're smart, and they have knowledge of every art**_

_**And they possess magnificent vehicles we like to refer to as a kart**_

_**They're skills so unique and they're prowess so dandy, surely we're sweeter than a shit-ton of candy**_

"Did you just swear?" Snowanna asked. "Maybe," Joanna responded nervously.

_**And where do we live, some of you may wonder, take a step inside in an adventure before yonder**_

_**We're so magnificent you all may want to gush**_

_**The Horror of the Rush**_

"You're making these words up as you go, aren't you," Snowanna interrupted. "Stop interrupting!" Joanna shouted.

_**The Horror of the Rush**_

_**The Horror of the Rush**_

_**The Horror of the Rush**_

Suddenly, there were several more blasts of smoke engulfing the area as the Nightmare Racers appeared all over the Horror Acropolis. The moment they appeared, the song quickened in pace.

_**The citizens of Horror Rush are a mighty quick race, **_

_**One slip up on the road and you may compromise your pace**_

_**We're here, we're there, we're all on your case**_

_**So you better nut up and not forget your place!**_

"Was that a threat?" Snowanna. "Not at all," Joanna murmured.

_**Horror Rush is a place where everything is on cue, if anyone's out of line then by mod they will rue**_

_**The day they had had the gall to go toe-to-toe with us, we have the strength of a double-decker bus**_

"Exaggeration," Snowanna interrupted once more. "You guys are surprisingly annoying," Joanna replied, irritated.

_**In Horror Rush everything is black and red, been that way since the creator's great-grandmother's death bed**_

_**And we're mighty fine people when no blood has to be shed, but screw around with us and you will be DEAD!**_

Another burst of smoke, this one a fiery red, burst from the ground, knocking the Sugar Rush Racers onto the ground.

_**The Horror of the Rush**_

_**The Horror of the Rush**_

_**The Horror of the Rush**_

The red smoke rose from the ground and spread through the air and over the town, engulfing the sky and the top-half of Horror Acropolis.

_**We're strong enough to defeat any adversary on the shrine, and anyone who disagrees can face the guillotine**_

_**We're epic and we know it, and we'd gladly like to show it,**_

_**We're as quick as a speedy hare and as arrogant as a ghetto gummy bear**_

Joanna's face appeared through the thick red smoke, her features now looking sharper and more cruel as the smoke made her face appear to glow

_**The! Horror! Of! The! RUSH!**_

The Sugar Rush Racers lay cowering on the floor in pure terror at the stunning display in front of them. The smoke ceased and the Nightmares appeared to return to normal.

"Whelp, hope you liked the introduction," Joanna said happily, and with that, she and the other Nightmares vanished, leaving the Sugar Rush Racers lying on the ground, awe-struck.

**A/N: End of chapter eight. This is my first full song so please review to tell me what you thought of it.**


	9. The Darkness of the Past Come to Light

Penelope trailed up the stairs of the Horror Acropolis with Vanellope following close behind.

"You know, you could soften your demands a bit," Vanellope said. "I mean, you're practically holding us hostage here at Horror Rush."

"I do what I have to do, president," Penelope replied, not bothering to turn around. "And besides, I'm doing you a favour, letting you reside in my castle."

"How is that a favour?" Vanellope asked.

"You could be out there with Tabitha," Penelope noted. Vanellope thought about it for a moment, and then shut her mouth, knowing she couldn't argue with that.

"So, how long have you guys been here?" Vanellope asked.

"About 15 years or so," Penelope replied.

Vanellope paled a bit. "That's about as long we've been around," Vanellope replied, a little uncomfortable. "I kind of thought you were uploaded a few months ago because of some glitch or something-"

"WHAT?!" Penelope shouted, unexpectedly spinning around to face Vanellope. Vanellope stumbled and fell down on the stairs and glanced up to see Penelope glaring down at her.

"You think we're here because of a glitch?" Penelope shrieked. "That we're some mistake? Lady, I'll have you know, none of us have anything to do with glitches!"

"I know, it was just-"

"And besides, reports say that YOU were seen glitching at one point," Penelope claimed. "Do you remember that, madam president?"

Vanellope gulped. She remembered glitching away from the Nightmares during their ambush. Penelope must have been notified of this.

"Are you a hypocrite, girl?" Penelope asked harshly. "Asking if we were spawned by glitches when you yourself glitched, which only suggests you yourself have to do with glitches."

"Looks, it's a long story, but I promise, I'll-" Vanellope started, but was cut off when a third person appeared from the top of the staircase.

"Penelope, is that you?" A small boy asked. "I heard you arguing with someone and-" He paused when he saw Vanellope. Vanellope's eyes widened to the size of Ralph's fists and her jaw hit the floor when she saw who it was.

"Oh, my, mod," Was all Vanellope could get out.

* * *

The stunned Sugar Rush Racers were pacing through the town, struggling to forget about the Nightmare Racer's threatening musical. Yet it seemed impossible.

"That song was horrible," Taffyta said, stuffing a lollipop in her mouth. "Can you believe Snowanna's palette swap produced such a pretentious piece of Devil Dog filth?"

"I know, it was so idiotic," Candlehead agreed. "It sounds like if you shoved poo in a kart, and then shoved in even MORE poo."

"Guys, can you keep that mental image out of my head?" Rancis pleaded. "I'm trying to stay good-looking on the outside and the inside."

"Ha, like's that's possible," Francis said. The racers looked up to see him sitting on the rooftop of one of the houses, holding a mirror to his face. He stared absent-mindedly at his reflection, making kiss faces to it."

"Don't you guys agree that I am way more handsome than that Francis wannabe?" Francis asked the racers as he admired his reflection. "I mean, it's pretty plausible."

"You look like a corpse, and you have a personality to match," Rancis shouted up at it.

"What was that?" Francis asked, acting like he didn't hear him. "I didn't here you. I'm too busy being awesomely attractive for myself!"

"Ugh," Rancis said. "I may talk about my looks, but even I'm not as arrogant as that airhead."

By now, a few of the Nightmares had crowded around the Sugar Rush Racers, Tabitha included. The racers made a collective groan, dreading what the Nightmares had to say.

"So, recolors, how was life back in Sugar Rush?" Tabitha asked. "Was it good? How was like spending those years with your so-called leader?"

The Sugar Rush Racers didn't answer. They all remembered that Vanellope hadn't been president for very long in the first place, maybe a few months at best. They had spent those years under the leadership of Turbo, aka King Candy.

"Um, it was great," Taffyta lied. "I mean, we had the best years ever with our president. Probably ten times better than yours."

"But wasn't she a glitch during those years?" Candlehead asked innocently. "I mean, Turbo was the ruler for that time, not Vanellope."

The Nightmares stared at her. The Sugar Rush Racers began whispering curse words to themselves, realizing they were screwed.

"What was that, Kendall-head?" Tabitha asked, mispronouncing Candlehead's name. "About Vanellope being a glitch for years."

"Oh, it's a long story," Candlehead said. "We have time," Lloyd said, intrigued.

"Don't you dare say another word," Taffyta whispered to Candlehead. The cake-themed racer ignored her, however.

"The thing is, there was this ghoul monster who snuck into our game, unplugged Vanellope from the code, erased our memories, and became king," Candlehead explained.

The Nightmares stared in confusion. "So what happened next?" Jubilee asked, interested.

"Well, we spent fifteen years picking on her and-" Candlehead said but was cut off by Taffyta.

"Oh, she doesn't know anything," Taffyta lied, giving a nervous chuckle. "She's kind of lacking in the brain department."

"She said you were picking on your leader for fifteen years," Cymbeline said. "I think she knows quite a lot judging from that."

The Sugar Rush Racers all gave a collective sigh. "Alright, it's true," Rancis said, cutting in front of Taffyta. "Turbo locked up our memories, and he said Vanellope was dangerous, so we spent a few years…"

"Bullying her?" Cymbeline said, appearing behind Rancis all of a sudden.

"Bullying is a bit of an extreme word, don't you think?" Taffyta asked.

"Hey, all we did was destroy her kart, push her in taffy swamps and chocolate puddles, say she can't race, and-" Candlehead exclaimed before realizing what she said. Taffyta face palmed.

"So you were so disconnected from your leader that you decided to treat her like crap every opportunity you got?" Tabitha guessed.

"No, that's not true!" Taffyta. "Turbo locked up our memories! We didn't know!"

"Sounds to me someone has anger issues," Cymbeline whispered. "Why else would they spent over a decade picking on some helpless little girl."

"It's not like that, okay!" Taffyta shouted.

"Then what is it?" Tabitha asked, stomping in front of Taffyta. "Are you saying you were the _victim _of the situation, or that you didn't know better, beating up on some girl her whole life?"

Taffyta stood, her mouth hanging open, in front of Tabitha, at a loss for words.

"Well, since you're being so awfully quiet, I guess we'll be going," Tabitha sneered. "And when you have an answer for us, I'll be waiting." With that, the Nightmares vanished into the shadows.

The moment the racers were gone, Candlehead piped up.

"You know, I just realized something," She said. All eyes turned to her, and even the Nightmares began to reappear in the town to hear what she had to say.

"And what may that be?" Taffyta asked, annoyed.

"We haven't seen the scrappies since we were captured," Candlehead said. Silence flooded the town.

"You know, she has a point," Rancis said. "I didn't see them at the trial, or anything. Where were they?"

"We let them go," Francis said from atop the roof, still looking at his reflection.

"Say what now?" The Sugar Rush Racers said.

"We didn't want to deal with them," Francis explained. "We know better than that because we've been forced to deal with creatures uncannily similar to them."

"And who may those be?" Taffyta asked. Before anyone could answer, a loud ringing sound was heard from the Horror Acropolis.

"Whoops, Penelope's calling us!" Francis said. "Time to leave to see what she has to say!" The Nightmares took off towards the large castle.

"Hey, we're not done here!" Taffyta said, and along with the Sugar Rush Racers, they followed the Nightmares towards the castle.

* * *

Deep within the Glitched Candy-Tree Forest outside of Horror Rush, the scrapped racers ventured through the undergrowth.

"You know, I feel kind of bad leaving the Sugar Rush Racers to get captured by those ghoulish freaks," Licorice commented as she pushed past a few bushes.

"Ah, who cares, as long as we're safe," Witchy said, cutting past a few vines.

"Do you really think so?" One scrapped racer, Adorabella Freezepop, asked. "I mean, I get the feeling we're not alone here."

"Are you mentally retarded, kid?" Candella sneered. "We are totally-"

"Don't say it!" Witchy said, spinning around. "You're tempting fate here."

"Tempting what?" Candella asked.

"Tempting fate," Witchy explained. "It's when someone says something won't happen, and then it happen. You're tempting fate right now."

"…Oh, come on, Witchy," Candella scoffed. "You watch too many horror movies. Here, I'll say it right now."

"Don't you dare!" Witchy threatened.

"WE! ARE! TOTALLY! ALONE!" Candella punctuated. The scrappies all stared at her in shock. Witchy made a strangling gesture with her hands, but then realized nothing bad was happening.

"Hah! Take that, fate!" Candella shouted up at the skies, flipping the bird. "Can you handle this! Come on, let's go!" She then skipped off through the forest, the other scrapped racers begrudgingly following.

As they hiked off, three pairs of glowing red eyes appeared from the trees, followed by a quiet hissing sound.

**A/N: End of chapter nine. R&R as always.**


	10. Back From The Dead

The Nightmares and the Sugar Rush Racers headed through the town and towards the Horror Acropolis, where Vanellope and Penelope awaited them. The two leaders were standing at the steps of the castle, staring at the dozens of racers and candy fans arriving.

Soon enough, the racers and fans came to a halt in front of the president and queen.

Rancis pushed his way past the crowd. "Vanellope, could you explain why we're here?" He asked. "This better be important if you called nearly every racer to the castle."

"I'm your president, so don't smart-mouth me," Vanellope warned. "And besides, this is VERY important, especially to you."

"What are you talking about?" Rancis asked, folding his arms. "What do I have to do with any of this."

"Remember your…brother, Peterbelly Reese?" Vanellope asked. Rancis' eyes widened.

"Of course I remember him," He said uneasily. He didn't like being reminded about it, though.

"You know, you and him were brothers of Creamy Buttercap until she got envious of your popularity and bumped off your brother at Ralph's game," Vanellope explained.

Rancis narrowed his eyes. "I'd like to be spared memories of that, do you mind?" He said, somewhat offended.

Adorabeezle walked next to Rancis. "Vanellope, this isn't the right time," She said. "You know how he gets reminded about his brother and sister."

"Don't worry, I have…um, _news _concerning Peterbelly's demise," Vanellope explained.

"And what do we have to know about Peterbelly's death that we don't know already?" Rancis asked, aggravated. "I was there when he got killed, remember?"

"Well, uh, that's the thing," Vanellope said, twiddling her fingers. "Peterbelly-"

All of a sudden, the doors burst open, and a small brown-haired boy with a black jacket and blazer appeared. Rancis' eyes widened in shock when he saw him.

"-_Isn't dead_." Vanellope finished solemnly.

The brown-haired boy stared down at Rancis in shock, and he whispered to himself, "Oh my mod."

Rancis' jaw hit the floor. Candlehead nearly pissed herself. Taffyta rubbed her forehead. Swizzle spat out some juice he was drinking.

"What the fudge!" Rancis shouted when he saw the boy, recognizing him instantly.

It was none other than Peterbelly Reese, Rancis' supposedly dead recolor.

Silence omitted through the town. All eyes were locked on Peterbelly as he stared down at the other racers, especially Rancis. It was like time had stopped; no one was moving at all.

Finally, Peterbelly himself broke the silence.

"This is, uh, awkward," Was all he managed to get out. Instantly, all the Sugar Rush Racers flung themselves up the stairs, tackling a shocked Peterbelly to the ground. Penelope jumped a bit, but then saw they were all hugging him.

"I thought you were dead!" Rancis said as he hugged his brother. "Wait a minute, how are you NOT dead?!"

Peterbelly didn't answer. He was too busy being crushed by all the racers. Vanellope gestured for all the racers to move off of him.

Peterbelly gasped as he tried to regain his breath. He breathed heavily and got to his feet.

"This is-this is a long story," He said. "But all you need to know is-it's very complicated."

"You fudging DIED!" Adorabeezle screamed. "And now you're all alive and stuff! At this rate, I think we can handle a little more complicatedness!"

"…Okay, you have a good point," Peterbelly mumbled. "I mean, you all think I'm dead for about 15 years and then all of a sudden, BOOM! I'm alive in front of all of you!"

"Just explain!" Rancis shouted, shaking in anticipation. "This is-I don't know what to think now! Explain why you're alive!"

Peterbelly sighed. "Okay, if you really want to know," He said casually. "Well, there we were in Fix-It Felix, Jr., when Creamy tried to assassinate me. You were trying to stop her, I was trying to avoid any deaths, Creamy was trying to cause deaths."

"We were there!" Swizzle reminded, flailing his arms around. "We just want to know why you are alive. You got-"

"-Speared in the chest by Creamy's knife," Peterbelly interrupted. "It wasn't a very good moment for me. I mean, do you have any idea how painful it is, getting stabbed like that?"

"Well, Adorabeezle sure knows," Crumbelina said, referring to Adorabeezle's temporary death at Creamy's hands months ago. Nougetsia smacked Crumbelina in the face in response.

"Well, anyways, it was painful, and excruciating," Peterbelly explained. "But…it wasn't necessarily fatal."

"You got stabbed in the fudging chest!" Rancis shouted. "How is that not fatal?"

"The knife didn't quite get so far into me that it impaled my code," Peterbelly said. "I was stabbed, but I was still alive. I fell into unconsciousness."

"We took Creamy away," Rancis explained. "We wanted to take you as well, but that handyman said something about trying to 'fix you' or something, so we left you."

"Well, I was unconscious, so I'm not sure exactly how that went," Peterbelly said. "I guess because I was, well, unconscious, they thought he failed at fixing me and wrote me off as deceased."

"Then what happened?" Jubileena asked, intrigued.

"I woke up in some room," Peterbelly said. "Of course, I had to get back to Sugar Rush, so I left the game and went off through Game Central Station and back to Sugar Rush."

"And then what?" Rancis asked. "Why didn't you return to our house?"

"I was kind of nauseated and confused," Peterbelly said. "After all, I did get stabbed and was out cold for who knows how long."

"That sounds stupid," Taffyta scoffed.

"Well, Sugar Rush is a big place. I didn't know where I was going, and I somehow stumbled into the Candy-Tree Forest," Peterbelly explained.

"And then you got into Horror Rush," Rancis correctly guessed. Peterbelly nodded.

"The Nightmares found me," Peterbelly explained. "Their ruler, Penelope von Sweets, had the doctors heal my wounds. During my stay, I actually got a little used to Horror Rush. It was an alright place."

"But why didn't you come back?" Rancis asked, somewhat irritated.

"I was tempted to dozens of times," Peterbelly said. "I mean, I had been in the Sugar Rush Kingdom for months. But, I kept convincing myself I would stay in Horror Rush for a little bit longer then return to the Sugar Rush Kingdom. Unfortunately, I guess I lost track of time."

"It was fifteen years!" Rancis screamed at Peterbelly. "You didn't feel like coming to me and saying 'hey, I'm not dead'."

"Well, uh…" Peterbelly mumbled.

"Do you have any idea how traumatized I was?" Rancis shouted. "I spent years thinking you were dead! Do you know what that's like?"

"I didn't think of it like that," Peterbelly mumbled.

"I was driven into self-harm a few times!" Rancis continued. "I blamed myself for your supposed death! On several different occasions, I contemplated suicide if it meant getting to see you again!"

"Well, you got to see me again," Peterbelly said, shrugging. Rancis threw back his head and shouted as Vanellope and Candlehead struggled to comfort him.

Penelope stepped in. "Hey, Peterbelly liked it here in Horror Rush," She sneered, standing next to Peterbelly. "Can you blame him for preferring this place to yours?"

"Um, Penny, I don't think you're helping," Peterbelly warned. Penelope ignored him, however.

"Peterbelly stayed because he wanted to stay," Penelope snapped at Rancis, who was seething in anger. "Besides, you never checked back at that fixing game to see if he was alive or not."

"What the-what are you getting at?" Rancis said.

Penelope got into his face. "You just assumed he was dead and that was it. You never asked if he survived or something. Surely you would have tried asking those other game characters if he was truly dead."

"They never told us!" Rancis defended.

"All I see is a boy getting mad over nothing," Penelope sneered. "He spends years moping about his brother supposedly dying, but when he sees he's alive, he's suddenly all angry at him instead of rejoicing that he's alive at all! What does that tell me about you?"

Rancis' eye twitched and he clenched his knuckles. Penelope breathed heavily as she stared with a triumphant expression on her face. The Sugar Rush Racers and Nightmares stepped away, nervous at what might happen next.

Before either of the two could react, however, one of Mindy's candy fans came running towards the Nightmare Queen.

"Your Highness, danger has been detected!" She shouted.

"Thank mod, an interruption," Peterbelly said, sighing in relief.

"What is it, Cindy?" Penelope asked the fan. "She has a name?" Minty asked in disbelief.

"It's…them," Cindy explained to the Nightmare Queen. "They're coming back to Horror Rush."

For the first time, Vanellope saw a glint of fear in Penelope's eyes. Forgetting about her confrontation with Rancis, Penelope ushered for all the racers and citizens towards the Horror Acropolis.

"Come on, get in, get in!" She shouted in a panic as the Nightmares and candy fans bolted towards the Horror Acropolis in a wild craze.

The Sugar Rush Racers stood there in confusion. "What is this?" Vanellope asked. "Who's them?"

Peterbelly, who was following the Nightmares towards the door, stopped and turned to face Vanellope.

"The Nightmare Scrappies," Was all he said before he sprinted through the door.

Vanellope's eyes widened in shock. "Nightmare…Scrappies?" She whispered in horror. Then, she heard a hissing sound coming from in the forest. She and the other Sugar Rush Racers turned around, shaking in fear, to see the source of the hiss.

And then they saw them.

Dozens of glowing red eyes, peering from inside the dark forest. Glowing red eyes staring right at them.

**A/M: End of chapter ten. Please review.**


	11. Feeding Time

The Sugar Rush Racers stood trembling in front of the door to the Horror Acropolis. Heavy breathing came from some of the racers as they stared at the glowing eyes coming from inside the forest.

They wanted to run, but it was like their feet were glued to the ground. They simply watched in anticipation as the glowing red eyes remained inside the forest.

By now, all the Nightmare Racers had been successfully evacuated into the Horror Acropolis, but dozens, if not hundreds, of candy fans were still on their way to the door. The Sugar Rush Racers remained frozen outside, though.

Suddenly, the glowing red eyes briefly disappeared in the forest. By now, even the Nightmares and the candy fans paused to look at the forest and the disappearance of the eyes. Then, to everyone's horror, small gray figures creeped out through the trees.

The Sugar Rush Racers could see that they were racers, as well as palette swaps of the scrapped racers. They were skittering towards the town on all-fours like a horde of army ants on the prowl, and at the head was a palette swap of Witchy Halloweena.

The Nightmare Scrappies were heading straight towards the Horror Acropolis, and at the Sugar Rush Racers. The candy fans all screamed simultaneously and began scurrying towards the Horror Acropolis once more.

"Rancis, what are you doing?!" Peterbelly shouted from at the door. "Get in here right now!" The Sugar Rush Racers, including Rancis, didn't respond.

"Yeah, do as he says!" Penelope butted in. "Get your molasses in here before we close the door!" As a warning, she began to creak the door shut.

The sound of the door moving snapped the Sugar Rush Racers out of their trance, and they bolted through the door, along with the candy fans. Just as they entered, Penelope shut the door.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" Vanellope asked her palette swap. "The majority of the candy fans are still out there!"

"Exactly, my simpleminded counterpart," Penelope responded harshly towards Vanellope, then gestured for the Nightmare Racers to begin shutting off all exits to the Horror Acropolis, including the windows and any other doors.

The racers heard screaming and hissing coming from outside the castle, accompanied by the sounds of crunching and munching. Candlehead began biting her nails while Rancis straightened his hair.

Vanellope couldn't submerge her curiosity and she took a peek out from one of the windows to see what was happening outside. And what she saw that day would haunt her for the rest of her life.

The Nightmare Scrappies were catching candy fans outside and devouring them on sight. Sharp fangs and pointy nails punctured into the candy fans as they were smashed and torn apart.

Vanellope gasped at the sight, and a few of the Sugar Rush Racers came to see what was happening, and they all began screaming and crying at the sight.

One of Tabitha's lollipop fans was snatched out of the air by a palette swap of Candella. It pleaded and begged, but the Candella palette swap opened its mouth, revealing sharp fangs, and bit down on the lollipop, leaving a large bite mark hole in its head. It screamed as sugar began pouring from the hole before the Candella palette swap finished it off with another bite.

Lloyd's candy fans were being cornered by palette swaps of Mina Min and Chocoletta Drizzlecap. The two racers grabbed them and gobbled them up in mere seconds.

One of Crumbelina's caramel fans was being held upside down from its leg by a palette swap of Icy Pop. "No, p-please…" It begged, but was cut short when the Icy Pop palette swap smashed its head on the concrete ground, smashing its head open. Caramel began pouring out onto the ground, and the Icy Pop palette swap tossed the injured fan away and began sucking the caramel from the ground.

Dozens more fans were being consumed by the Nightmare Scrappies. The Sugar Rush Racers couldn't stand it, but for some reason, they couldn't stop watching.

Suddenly, a candy fan of Mindy was tossed at the window, startling the racers. The lower portion of its body had been totally chewed off.

"_Save…me…" _It gurgled before the Witchy palette swap unexpectedly engulfed him. Her claws began ripping into him, and sugar began pouring out from his wounds. She devoured the sugar as several Nightmare Scrappies arrived to feed on the crippled candy fan.

The Sugar Rush Racers stared in shock as the Nightmare Scrappies fed on the candy fan only a few inches away from them. Suddenly, the Witchy candy fan glanced up at the Sugar Rush Racers and glared. Then, she opened her mouth, revealing fangs stained with dark red sugar, and growled at the racers, causing them to back up from the window.

"They-they're killing them," Vanellope said to the Nightmare Queen. "They're devouring your subjects."

"That's the point," Penelope said. "They eat the candy fans so we can be spared from harm."

"What was that?" Vanellope asked in disbelief.

"The Nightmare Scrappies arrive in town to eat," Penelope explained. "I barricade the Nightmare Racers inside the safety of the Horror Acropolis, along with any candy fans that get here quick enough. The rest will become an 'offering' of sorts to the Nightmare Scrappies. That, or my racers will be consumed in their place."

"How long has this been going on?" Vanellope questioned.

"A few months," Penelope said. "Everything was fine until several months ago, and they appeared out of nowhere and pretty much ransacked the town. They come back every week to continue doing so."

Vanellope froze. She remembered that several months ago, Creamy, while tampering with the Scrappy code, had released the scrapped racers into Sugar Rush.

"And why haven't you tried doing anything about it?" Taffyta asked, putting her hand son her hips.

"Oh, we tried once," Penelope said. "I took the Nightmares and the sugar rush candy police department into the forest to search for them."

"And what happened?" Taffyta asked.

"Well, Winkle and Dunant, while they still had a job as security, took a few photos of the…_results_," Penelope said, shivering as she spoke the last word. She took a few photos out of her pocket.

The Sugar Rush Racers looked at about three of the pictures before recoiling.

"Oh my mode!" Vanellope screamed.

"Dear sweet Mr. Litwak!" Crumbelina squeaked, covering her eyes.

Candlehead doubled over, clutching her stomach. "I think I'm gonna-" She said before puking on the ground. "I got it," Wynchel said and mopped the puke.

"And that's why we haven't tried to mess with them anymore," Penelope said and put the photos back in her pocket.

The Sugar Rush Racers were still shivering from the images that had just been shown to them. "So, how long is this offering thing going to last?" Candlehead muttered.

"It should end in a few moments," Penelope reassured. Sure enough, The sounds of screaming and violence ceased, and the Sugar Rush Racers once more glanced out the window.

Outside, the Nightmare Scrappies were scurrying out of the town and into the forest. Within the town, the remains of the candy fans lay on the terrain, torn up and disfigured beyond recognition.

"They-they're dead," Vanellope whispered. "Not for long," The Nightmare Queen said. Suddenly, the dead candy fans all started to regenerate, restored to their living selves.

"What the-" Rancis mumbled.

"We're in our game," Penelope said. "We regenerate shortly after the feeding. So, it's not bad news for anyone, except maybe the candy fans."

However, none of the Sugar Rush Racers were listening. They simply stood at the window, staring out into the ominous forest, where the Nightmare Scrappies had disappeared into.

And, for just a moment, they all saw a single, glowing red eye peering out from the forest before vanishing.

**A/N: And that's the end of chapter eleven. Please review and let me know what you all thought.**


	12. Leaving Horror Rush

**A/N: I created a poll. Check it out if you please.**

The racers stood inside the Horror Acropolis, stunned at what they had witnessed only moments beforehand. They were petrified; scared out of their wits.

The Nightmares, however, were not as traumatized. Tabitha kicked the door open and walked through it, a triumphant smirk on her face. "Yes, I survived the massacre!" She gloated. "Looks like those scrappies won't be getting a piece of me this time!"

"Unfortunately," Taffyta whispered, rolling her eyes.

The Sugar Rush Racers slowly and cautiously stepped out of the castle and back into the town, shaking all over.

"Are you sure those guys are gone?" Adorabeezle asked. "I mean, they disappeared in the forest, so they're probably still out there."

"They don't bother us after they feed on the fans," Penelope said. "I think they have some place where they stay, like a house or community."

"Oh, that makes things so much better," Taffyta replied sarcastically. "Yet another creepy thing to add to Horror Land."

"It's Horror Rush, toots, but I'll let it pass this time," Penelope corrected. "So, what should we do now. Dinner, sports, racing…"

"I think we should go home for the moment," Vanellope said, twiddling her fingers. "I mean, you did say we could leave Horror Rush for a certain amount of time."

Penelope stared blankly at Vanellope, then sighed and nodded. "Very well, you guys are dismissed," She said. "Just watch out for the Nightmare Scrappies occupying the forest."

The Sugar Rush Racers gulped at Penelope's words. "Um, Vanellope, maybe your double trouble palette swap has a point," Taffyta whispered. "Those things are still out there."

"And you want to be in Horror Rush with them, instead of Sugar Rush where they don't come to?" Vanellope asked. "Really sound logic to me."

"But passing into the forest is dangerous stuff," Minty added. "We saw what those Nightmare Racers could do in an ambush, and even they aren't a match for the Nightmare Scrappies considering those…photos." The candy apple girl shuddered, recollecting images from them.

"Okay, if you want to stay, fine with me," Vanellope said, putting her hands on her hips. "But I'm leaving to see someone, okay."

"You're going into the forest?" Rancis said. "Alone, with no protection?"

"Hey, I have a pretty good way of transport that you don't have," Vanellope said. Then, before Rancis could respond, she glitched through the forest and out of sight.

"Ugh, that glitch of hers," Tabitha said, shuddering. "It's so freaky."

"Hey, that's my president your talking about, Morton," Rancis defended. "And I think her glitch is awesome. Besides, I'm leaving too." He turned around to leave when Peterbelly ran up to him.

"I'm coming with you," Peterbelly offered. Rancis stared at him.

"Why?" Rancis asked. "I thought you were too happy being in Horror Rush, hmm." He turned his gaze from the recolor.

"I have to see somebody," Peterbelly said. "I want to see…"

"Who?" Rancis asked.

"…Our sister," Peterbelly confessed. Peterbelly's response hit Rancis harder than being sucker-punched by Ralph.

"You want to see the girl who tried to kill you?!" He shouted at his recolor. "Are you insane! This is Creamy Freaking Buttercap, we're talking about!"

"So what?" Peterbelly said. "She's still my sister. Besides, she's bound to find out sooner or later, so what's the point trying to hide me?"

Rancis stared at him, at a loss for words. "You have a very confusing mindset," He said, shaking his head. "Creamy's bound to just try and kill you all over again."

"Well, where is she?" Peterbelly asked.

"It's a long story, believe me," Rancis said. "But I'd be glad to explain. We banished her, King Candy turned out to be some dude from another game and died, Vanellope turned out to be the princess, Creamy returned, she turned us into glitches and took over the game, after a while we counterattacked and defeated her, and now she's locked up in the fungeon."

"That sounds like quite an adventure," Peterbelly said bluntly. "But anyways, lets go see our incarcerated sibling."

At that point, Penelope butted in. "Wait, wait, what are you guys doing?" She asked.

"I'm going to the Sugar Rush Kingdom to see someone," Peterbelly explained. "If you let me."

"Are you sure, Peter?" Penelope asked. "I mean, you've been away from their kingdom for over a decade. Who knows how much it's changed."

"Who cares?" Peterbelly asked. "Besides, I'm only leaving for about a half hour or so."

"Still, I doubt you could get used to it," Penelope said. At that point, Peterbelly decided with a new tactic. An effective, intelligent, charismatic, cunning tactic.

"Oh, please, please, please!" Peterbelly begged, going onto his knees and making puppy dog eyes. "Oh please let me go to the Sugar Rush Kingdom! I'll be back soon enough! Oh, please, you won't even know I'm gone! Oh, please, please, please! Pleeeeeease!"

"…Fine," Penelope grumbled, face palming. "But if you're not back in half an hour, I'm sending people to go collect you."

"Oh thank you my Queen!" Peterbelly said before taking off into the forest with Rancis followed. The moment they were gone, Penelope twitched a bit and called Tabitha, Francis, and Kendall.

"You three, go and follow Peter," She instructed. "Make sure nothing dangerous happens to him, and intervene if you must. Can you handle that?"

"Yes, your majesty," Tabitha replied.

"Golly, sure can do-y," Kendall said.

"Oh, I am one sexy beast," Francis said, admiring his reflection from his hand-held mirror. Tabitha groaned and snatched the mirror out of Francis' hand and threw it away.

"No, my manly image!" Francis cried. Tabitha rolled her eyes and grabbed Francis by the jacket, dragging him off in the direction Peterbelly left.

"Come on, you faggot, lets go and survey the little recolor," She grumbled.

"NO, MY MIRROR!" Francis cried as he was dragged on the ground and into the forest with Kendall skipping after them.

**A/N: End chapter 11. Please read and review.**


	13. Family Reunion

Rancis and Peterbelly sneaked through the Glitched Candy-Tree Forest, the darkness of the forest illuminated by a Twinkie flashlight held by Peterbelly.

"You know, you could pick better days to go on a trip in a cryptic forest," Rancis said, shuddering as he followed Peterbelly through a passageway in the forest.

"And could you explain when that better day would be, prissy boy?" Peterbelly asked, turning to face Rancis and flashing a corky smirk.

Rancis shrugged. "Well, the town just got attacked by Nightmare Scrappies, and they disappeared in this forest, remember," Rancis shot back, putting his hands on his hips as a way to look triumphant. "So, maybe we should go out when they've actually left."

"They've always been in this forest, genius," Peterbelly responded bluntly. "And I doubt they're going to leave anytime soon."

Rancis glared at his recolor, then sighed. "Point taken, kid, but I still feel uncomfortable out in the open," He said, shivering.

"That's because you're used to sunshine and go-karting 24/7," Peterbelly said. "You rarely ever experience something as intimidating as this forest."

Rancis shrugged, but kept silent.

"I've spent 15 years in here, and I've gotten used to it, even when the Nightmare Scrappies came and wrecked things," Peterbelly said. "You yourself haven't even had a true encounter with a Nightmare Scrappy before, and you're still cowering."

"This is freaky, okay," Rancis said. "The sky is red, the ground black, the trees are a mixture of the two colors."

"Black is a shade, not a color," Peterbelly corrected. "Learn your mathematics."

"Whatever," Rancis said. Finally, they came across the exit of the Glitched Candy-Tree Forest.

"Finally, my home!" Rancis shouted and bolted through the exit quicker than a cheetah on crack. Peterbelly blinked once and then jogged after Rancis.

"So, this is Sugar Rush," Peterbelly said, looking around, lowering the flashlight. "It doesn't look as strange as I'd expected it to be."

"That's because Sugar Rush isn't strange, pal," Rancis said with a smirk. "It's the good life, way better than that Horror-esque nightmare land you got going there."

"At least Horror Rush is more hardcore, Butterfingers," Peterbelly sneered. "Instead of brightness and colours and simplicity."

"Oh yeah, well I-" Rancis started but Peterbelly cut him off.

"Hey, shouldn't we be going to see Creamy Buttercap?" Peterbelly asked. The two stared at each other awkwardly, and then Rancis said, "Well, yeah."

"Well then, let's get going," Peterbelly said before grabbing Rancis by the arm, and in the span of three seconds, he leapt up into a candy tree, latched his arm onto one of the branches, bent it backwards, and catapulted him and Rancis into the air, sending them soaring over the Sugar Rush Kingdom.

"This is amazing!" Peterbelly said as he and Rancis soared through the air. Rancis, however, was not as ecstatic.

"I'm going to die!" Rancis cried, tears slipping down his cheeks. He flailed his arms around and screamed hysterically as the two flew through the air.

They soared right over to Vanellope's castle, flying straight through the open window. However, Peterbelly grabbed hold of the balcony to stop him from crashing, whereas Rancis splattered into the wall.

"Dude, are you okay?" Peterbelly asked. Rancis groaned loudly and crashed on the ground. Peterbelly's jaw dropped when he saw his face.

"Give me a mirror," Rancis demanded. Peterbelly hesitantly took a small mirror from his jacket and handed it to Rancis. The blonde racer took the mirror and stared at his reflection. And nearly fainted upon seeing himself.

He had two black eyes, a purple bruise on his left cheek, a large cut on his nose, a gash in his chin, and three of his teeth had been knocked out.

"N-n-no," He whispered, stuttering due to his lost teeth. "M-my…"

"I know, your face is pretty busted up, but-" Peterbelly started but Rancis cut him off.

"Screw my face!" He shouted. "My hair! It's out of place!" He pointed a rigid finger at his blonde hair to reveal that a strand was out of place.

"It's ruined!" He cried. "Ruined forever!"

Peterbelly rolled his eyes and strolled down the hallway as Rancis whined about his hair. "Your president's castle looks a lot like Penelope's, you know," Peterbelly mentioned. "Except, smaller."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yours is bigger, we get it!" Rancis said. Peterbelly shrugged and he trailed through the castle, eventually finding his way downstairs towards the fungeon.

"You know, Peterbelly, this could just lead to more trouble," Rancis pointed out. Peterbelly, however, wasn't listening and continued towards the fungeon.

"Seriously , if Creamy finds out you're alive, she'll just try and kill you again," Rancis said, racing down the stairs.

"Don't you think I know that?" Peterbelly said. He was now in the hallway of the fungeon. The two trailed through the hallways, searching for Creamy's cell.

"Ah, there it is," Peterbelly said upon reaching a door marked, in bolted letters, **Creamy Buttercap's Cell**.

"Seriously, we should probably go back," Rancis said, shuddering. However, Peterbelly simply stood in front of the door. He took a deep breath, and lifted his hand towards the doorknob.

Clutching the doorknob, he twisted it, pushing it open. Peterbelly, with a nervous expression, then snuck inside the cell as Rancis stood outside.

Sure enough, chained to the wall, was Creamy Buttercap, her head hanging low and her eyes staring at the ground. The moment the door opened, she raised her head to see who was there.

"Oh, if it isn't Rancy Fluggerbutter, come to visit his-" She mused before seeing who it was. As Peterbelly watched, Creamy's skin paled, her pupils shrunk, and her mouth widened into a look of horror.

"Hello, sister," Peterbelly sneered hatefully.

"_No…no," _Creamy whispered, trembling. "This is…this is impossible."

Peterbelly walked over to Creamy, who began tugging on her chains in a desperate attempt to free herself and flee.

"What's wrong, sis?" Peterbelly asked. "Aren't you glad to see your little brother, back from the dead after fifteen years."

"This…this can't be," Creamy said, her eyes widening. "I killed you!"

"And yet, here I am, as good as new," Peterbelly smirked. "Did you really think your chocolate knife to the chest would be enough to take me out?"

Creamy gritted her teeth. "Where have you been hiding this whole time?" She asked, glaring.

"That's for me to know and you never to find out," Peterbelly replied, folding his arms. Creamy grimaced and clenched her knuckles as she stared at him.

"…Does Rancy know?" She asked with a sneer.

"You bet he does," Peterbelly said. "In fact, we've been having a little family reunion that you won't be part of."

Creamy seethed in anger.

"Oh please, don't act all angry," Peterbelly scoffed. "You were the one who couldn't handle losing at races and tried to compensate by killing off the competition, who was your own BROTHER!"

"You were never supposed to live," Creamy hissed.

"No, you were never supposed to live," Peterbelly replied. "It may sound cliché, but it's the truth."

Creamy opened her mouth to reply, but Peterbelly cut him off.

"I'd love to stay and chat, but my queen wants me back at her kingdom soon, so, goodbye, big sister," Peterbelly said. With that, he slunk out of the cell, leaving Creamy seething in fury.

The moment he was outside, Rancis said, "How did it go?"

"She still hates me," Peterbelly said with a shrug. "Figures," Rancis said.

"Oh well, let's get going," Peterbelly said and the two took off down the hallway.

Inside Creamy's cell, the brunette hissed in anger and furrowed her eyebrows.

"I must…kill him," Creamy whispered to herself and narrowed her eyes. Unbeknownst to her, Tabitha, Francis and Kendall stood outside her cell, listening.

"Oh gosh, they're planning to kill Penelope's main advisor," Kendall whispered.

"I knew those palette swaps couldn't be trusted," Tabitha whispered. Gesturing towards the candy tree forest, Tabitha said, "Come on. We gotta warn the Nightmare Queen of what those recolors are planning."

With that, the three took off towards the forest.

**A/N: End chapter thirteen. Please read and review.**


	14. Questions

Vanellope was in Game Central Station, pushing through the dozens of arcade characters with only one game in her mind: Fix-It Felix, Jr.

She had to tell Ralph and Felix about the predicament at hand, or at least imply it. They were her main source of company outside of the other racers.

Dozens of thoughts ran through her brain, making her dizzy. Should she tell Ralph about being ambushed by the Nightmares? Should she bring him to the Glitched Candy-Tree Forest to fight? Would this cause more harm than good.

Finally, she found herself at the entrance of the Fix-It Felix, Jr. plug. Instead of bothering to wait for the train, she glitched through the plug and all the way to the steps of the penthouse.

Vanellope took a deep breath as she continued to struggle with what she should tell the wrecker. She raised a trembling hand towards the door, and after several moments, she knocked on the door a bit.

After a few moments, the door creaked open. It wasn't Ralph, or Felix, who had answered. It was Big Gene.

"Hi, hi, what do you want," He sneered.

"I need to see my friend, Ralph," Vanellope said, smilingly innocently. Gene folded his arms across his chest and pouted.

"It's been a long day, and Ralph is very tired," Gene stated, blocking the entrance to the penthouse. "I doubt he has time to see you."

" Ol' Stinkbrain always has time to see me," Vanellope said, trying to sound calm and collected.

"You sure about that, miss?" Gene said, leaning on the side of the door. "Because the last time I checked, little brats aren't welcomed 24/7 in my penthouse."

Vanellope stared at Gene for a moment.

"…FUDGE YOU!" She shouted and punched Gene in the face before glitching past him and into the penthouse.

"Ralph, where are you?" The young president asked as she glitched through the building. "Ralph, I need to speak with you about something."

After several minutes of glitching through the building, she finally glitched right into the chest of the massive wrecker himself.

"Ralph!" Vanellope shouted in glee, jumping on Ralph to hug him.

"Kid, what are you doing here?" Ralph asked, returning the hug.

"Well, uh…" Vanellope trailed off. She suddenly found herself in her predicament again. It seemed like such an easy task to tell Ralph about the Nightmares, but she felt conflicted.

_If I tell Ralph, then he will inevitably go to the Glitched Candy-Tree Forest, and when Penelope sees him, she'll think I'm sending him to endanger her, _Vanellope thought to herself. So, she made a split-second decision.

"I just wanted to see my best friend," Vanellope said. "Is there anything wrong with that, Stinkbrain?"

"None at all, President Fartfeathers," Ralph replied. Vanellope jumped onto the ground. Though she felt she had to keep Ralph in the dark on the Nightmares situation, she still felt the need to ask some questions.

"Ralph, there has been something that has been itching at my brain lately," Vanellope said, scratching her head. "And I feel you might be able to fill me in on it."

"You sure it isn't head lice?" Ralph asked. "Because I've had my fill of those during the 30 years I've been a wrecker."

"No, I meant it as a metaphor, or something," Vanellope said. "So, I have to ask: have you ever seen, a gray person before."

"Gray person?" Ralph asked, somewhat uncomfortable.

"Yeah, a gray person," Vanellope said. "Short in stature, kind of ghoulish-looking…"

"Vanellope, does this have something to do with Turbo?" Ralph asked worriedly.

"No, not at all," Vanellope said. "Other gray people. Have you ever heard of a gray person before. Or have you ever seen someone who had a 'Nightmare' in their name."

"Kid, you're beginning to worry me," Ralph said. "What is this about?"

"Nothing, nothing at all," Vanellope said, gulping a bit. "I just felt the need to ask."

Ralph gave Vanellope a look that signified that he wasn't buying what she was saying, and Vanellope felt an itching feeling in her spine.

"Oops, gotta go," Vanellope said before Ralph could say anything. "My kingdom awaits!" With that, she glitched out of the penthouse and towards the exit of the game.

"…What the-" was all Ralph said.

* * *

Penelope paced back and forth inside the Horror Acropolis, a beat of sweat on her forehead. She brushed it off quickly with a swipe of her glove.

"It's been, what, ten minutes," She said to herself. "Peter isn't back here, and neither is that Francis copy or the president of Sugar Rush."

Penelope turned to a random Oreo guard.

"Ore, prepare your troops and go to that Sugar-" Penelope ordered when the door was pushed open and five kids ran through.

"Hey Penny," Peterbelly greeted casually before taking off down the hallway with Rancis.

"Ore, never mind," Penelope said. "Carry on with what you were doing." The Oreo guard nodded and left. The Nightmare Queen then turned to face the other three visitors.

"Tabitha, Francis, Kendall, do you have anything to report?" Penelope asked the three.

Tabitha pushed past Kendall and Francis. "In fact, your Highness, we do," Tabitha said, smirking triumphantly. "We've found evidence that those recolors are plotting to assassinate Peterbelly."

"WHAT?!" Penelope screeched. She spun around to Ore, who was about to go, and shouted, "Ore, come back! I need you to prepare the guards again and storm the recolors!"

Ore nodded, but Kendall butted in.

"We saw that blonde recolor of Francis and Peter talking to some chick in their mini-fungeon," She explained. "When they left, she said she had to kill him."

Penelope blinked once and gestured for Ore to return.

"A chick?" She asked.

"No, it was a recolor of Cree Buttercup," Tabitha explained.

"Cree Buttercup?" Penelope said. "Hey, didn't we execute that girl for trying to usurp me and kill Francis? Huh, I guess the palette swap of her was trouble too."

"She was in the fungeon, and we overheard that she was plotting to kill Peter. I bet the others are in on this."

Penelope sighed. "So you're saying a PRISONER of Sugar Rush is in cahoots with her CAPTORS?" Penelope said, irritated. "Because she said she wanted to kill someone?"

"Yes, I can say with full confidence that they are plotting something," Tabitha said, putting her hands on her hips.

Penelope gritted her teeth.

"Ore, never mind about routing the recolors," She said. Ore sighed and took off.

"Hey, what was that for?" Tabitha asked. "We have to dispose of the recolors before they do some real damage."

"Tabitha, that recolor of Cree is bound to be in the fungeon for something, and the president likely ordered her imprisonment in the first place," Penelope pointed out. "If she wants to kill someone, that's likely why she's in the slammer!"

"Yeah, but-" Tabitha started.

"No buts, Tabitha!" Penelope said, sizing up Tabitha. "Unless you find me some evidence that the president and the prisoner are working together, take your paranoia to assumptions to someone who actually gives a crap."

"But Peter may be in danger," Kendall cut in before adding, "Even if he is just a lowly recolor."

Penelope's eye twitched.

"What are looking at us for?" Kendall asked obliviously.

* * *

The door to the Horror Acropolis swung open and Tabitha, Francis and Kendall went soaring out of the castle and into the center of town. Coincidentally, Vanellope had arrived and the trio landed right in front of her.

"Well, looks like someone got the boot," The president smirked. Tabitha got to her knees, coughing dirt out of her mouth, then stared up at Vanellope and glared.

"Well look what the brat dragged in," Tabitha said, getting to her feet and brushing dirt from her skirt.

"Things didn't work out for you?" Vanellope correctly guessed. Tabitha snorted in response.

"You may have conned the queen, but you can't fool us," Tabitha sneered. "We have our eyes on you, and we're going to ensure you're takeover of Horror Rush never happens."

"Takeover?" Vanellope said in disbelief.

"Yeah, we know you're in cahoots with that recolor of Cree Buttercup," Kendall said, adjusting her cap on her head. "And we'll make sure you don't harm Peter."

"In cahoots with Creamy Buttercap?" Vanellope said, aghast. "Are you retarded?"

"I know you are, but what am I?" Kendall retorted. "As in, you're retarded but I am not."

"…Okay, I have no idea if your none-existent mother dropped you on your head as a child, but that is the only way I can explain what you just said right now," Vanellope said, and turned to leave.

"Your snaky remarks won't save you, _glitch_," Tabitha sneered. Vanellope paused.

"What did you call me?" Vanellope asked.

"You think we don't know?" Tabitha asked. "You're constant teleporting and glitching made it all too obvious. And a glitch means trouble, am I right guys." Kendall and Francis nodded.

"I'm not a glitch," Vanellope said. "This is just a superpower or something."

"Sure thing, glitchy glitch," Kendall mocked. "You glitching, glitchy GLITCH!"

Vanellope bit her lips and promptly glitched from the town, unwilling to bear more insults.

"You see!" Tabitha shouted. "You're nothing but a good-for-nothing, destructive, code-damaged GLITCH! And if there's something we know about glitches, it's that they belong in the fungeon!"

With that, Tabitha, Francis, and Kendall broke out into malicious laughter.

* * *

**A/N: End chapter 14. And if you readers are wondering, the Cree Buttercup thing is NOT going to be expanded on. It's unneeded and would just get in the way of the plot.**

**But anyways, read and review as always.**


	15. The Meeting

Penelope was holding a fencing sword, swinging it around as she pranced through the hallway, when she heard a small knock on the door.

Groaning in annoyance, Penelope called out, "Winkle! Dunant! Could you get the door!"

The two janitors were standing next to the door of the Horror Acropolis, holding a small open book and flipping through the pages, oblivious to Penelope's demands.

"Winkle! Dunant!" Penelope shouted as the knocks on the door grew louder. The two doughnut janitors glanced up and lowered the book.

"Yes, Your Highness?" Winkle asked drowsily.

"Could you get the door?" Penelope asked, swinging her fencing sword in her left hand. "And what are you reading?"

"A manual on janitor duties," Dunant replied, bowing proudly. "Uh-huh," Penelope said, unconvinced. "Could you get the door now?"

Winkle nodded and spun around to face the door, but the book slipped from his hand and flew across the room and right into Penelope's free hand. The Nightmare Queen raised the book to see the cover and title.

_Aerobics Manuel for Dummies by Joanna Rainbow_

With a groan and a roll of her eyes, Penelope flicked the book away just as Winkle opened the door.

"No, our aerobics Manuel!" The janitors shouted and pursued the book as it slid down the hallways. Penelope folded her arms behind her back and sprinted to the open door to see who it was.

It was the Sugar Rush Racers.

"Well if it isn't the Children of the Copy Corn," Penelope sneered. "What do you guys want?"

"We were just wondering where we are going to be spending these next few days?" Taffyta asked, sucking a velvet red lollipop. She then added, "By the way, your lollipops taste like toffee."

"Why thank you," Penelope said.

"That wasn't a compliment," Taffyta sneered. "But anyways, where are we staying, President?"

"That's Queen to you, sugar, but I'll let it slip," Penelope said. "Well, my intentions was for you to stay with your respective originals for the time being."

The Sugar Rush Racers all let out a cohesive "NO!"

"Those Nightmare Racers of yours despise us!" Taffyta shouted, flicking the lollipop and folding her arms. "We'd rather sleep in the forest than in any of their houses."

"Okay then, the forest beds are rather comfy," Penelope said, shrugging.

"Wait, that was a figure of speech, an exaggeration!" Taffyta said desperately. "We don't want to be in a forest full of scrapped Nightmares!"

"Hey, why don't we sleep in the Horrifying A-crap-olis?" Candlehead asked. Penelope glared at her.

"What did you say?" She hissed.

"She didn't mean it," Adorabeezle said, shielding an oblivious Candlehead. "And she does have a point. Your Horror Acropolis is big, there appears to be plenty of space, and there's enough rooms for each of us."

Penelope stared at the two. "Fine, if you really want to," She said. She then turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Taffyta asked.

"I have fencing practice with Peter, sugar," Penelope replied.

"Yeah, but we want to see out rooms," Taffyta said. Penelope glared and raised her fencing sword.

"You see this?" She whispered menacingly. "Hijack your molasses off my doorsteps while they're still in one piece, capisce?"

The intimidated Sugar Rush Racers cowered, nodded, and then fled.

"And I thought my citizens were unruly," Penelope said, swinging her fencing sword.

* * *

In Tabitha's giant velvet red lollipop hut, all the Nightmare Racers, excluding Penelope, Citrus, Tovar, Vicky and Nougat had gathered in one of Tabitha's several rooms for a group meeting.

"Okay guys, this is bad," Taffyta said. "Those palette swaps are bound to be trouble!"

"Not only that, but our leader, Penelope von Sweets, has given those guys the benefit of the doubt here," Kendall said.

The other Nightmares gasped.

"Not only that, but we found hard candy evidence that those racers are planning to assassinate Peter Reece, Penelope's co-advisor," Tabitha hissed.

A few of the Nightmares nearly fainted.

"But why would they want to kill Peter?" Jubilee asked. "He's one of them, isn't he?"

"We don't know, but we saw a recolor making plans to kill him," Francis whispered, coincidentally leaving out that said recolor was a palette swap of the dreaded Cree Buttercup.

"Guys, you know what has to be done," Tabitha said.

"Politely ask them to repent their ways?" Zadora asked. Tabitha's fist slammed on the table.

"No, we have to dispose of them!" She shrieked, causing all the Nightmares to automatically shield themselves.

"But Tabitha, we can't just go up and kill them without evidence they're up to something bad," Cymbeline pointed out. "Then we'll be locked up in the dungeon for who knows how many years."

"Exactly Cymbeline, I thought of that," Tabitha said, rolling her eyes. "Of course we aren't flat-out going to bum-rush them, we have to be subtle, but how?"

The Nightmares thought hard until Mindy came to a conclusion.

"What about a provocation?" She suggested, catching the attention of the other Nightmares. "We could provoke them into retaliation, and Penelope obviously doesn't hold much trust for them, so we can easily flip her on our side!"

"Yeah, that's great!" Tabitha said. "Man I come up with the best plans!"

"But I was the one who-" Mindy started but Tabitha cut her off.

"We'll torment those bastards until they counterattack against us!" Tabitha said. "Then we can go to the queen and tell her what they did to us, and she'll immediately banish them or imprison them in the dungeon."

The Nightmares cheered.

"Hey, there they are right now!" Lloyd said, pointing a finger at the window to reveal the Sugar Rush Racers passing by.

"Perfect timing, I must say," Cymbeline smirked.

Taffyta grinned, then turned to the other Nightmares. "Let's do this," She hissed as she got out of her seat and stomped towards the door, followed by the other Nightmares.

* * *

**A/N: End of chapter fifteen. Read and review as always.**


	16. Fencing Match

Penelope and Peterbelly stood in the ballroom of the Horror Acropolis, fencing swords outstretched in their hands. Penelope was in a different costume now, with a red blazer and jeans, looked calm and reserved, the fencing sword dangling at her side, while Peterbelly was breathing heavily, his hand trembling.

"You look nervous," Penelope pointed out in a mocking tone.

"N-no I'm not," Peterbelly denied. "This is a fencing match, and the swords shouldn't do that much damage."

"Then why are you trembling?" Penelope asked with a smirk, raising the sword up and pointing it at her fencing rival.

Peterbelly gulped, but didn't give an answer.

"Are you ready?" Penelope asked, grinning.

Peterbelly shrugged in response. "Ready…when Sore Bill is," He answered, gesturing to the small gray ball sitting in the corner of the ballroom, the same unresponsive expression plastered on his face.

"You know, you haven't given the signal yet," Penelope reminded her majordomo, putting her hands on her hips. There was no response except for the wisp of a breeze inexplicably entering the room. However, it seemed Penelope took the breeze as the signal and cried, "Start match!"

She suddenly lunged at Peterbelly, the fencing sword raised over her head. Peterbelly yelped and raised his own fencing sword, and successfully blocked Penelope's strike. Penelope did a back-flip in midair and landed on her feet expertly.

Peterbelly stood in shock at having blocked Penelope, but was forced to dodge when Penelope swung the fencing sword at him, aiming for his legs. Peterbelly jumped to avoid Penelope's swing and tried to enact her back-flip, but failed and landed on his back while the sword clattered a few inches away.

Penelope quickly brought the fencing sword down, but Peterbelly managed to reclaim his own sword and blocked her attack. Tumbling out of the way, Peterbelly struggled to get to his feet, but Penelope swung again, lightly scraping Peterbelly's jacket. Peterbelly yelped and stumbled backwards.

Penelope charged, but this time Peterbelly swung the sword at Penelope. The Nightmare Queen easily ducked the strike and jabbed her sword forward. Peterbelly, however, struck the sword away. The two children continued to swing their swords at each other, trying to land a blow.

Peterbelly deflected one of Penelope's strikes and then landed a kick square in her chest, knocking her backwards. She caught her self before she fell, however, and regained balance.

"You've gotten good, kid," She complimented.

"Why thank y-" Peterbelly started but was caught off-guard when Penelope promptly swung the sword and struck him in the shoulder. Yelping, Peterbelly jumped to the side and clutched his shoulder.

"Never let yourself get distracted by a conversation when you're in the midst of fighting," Penelope scolded, wagging her sword as if it was a finger. Peterbelly glared and shouted before charging at Penelope, swinging the sword repeatedly. Penelope easily dodged or deflected the blows.

"You're…learning…fast," Penelope said between dodging his strikes. Peterbelly simply nodded in response and landed a drop kick, knocking the sword out of Penelope's hand. The Nightmare Queen stood in shock as Peterbelly aimed the sword at Penelope's neck.

"Not bad, huh," He said, hoping to gain a compliment. Instead, Penelope simply wrenched the fencing sword out of Peterbelly's hand and knocked him onto the ground.

"What the-" He said in shock as Penelope placed her foot on his chest and aimed the fencing sword at his face. Penelope jabbed the fencing sword into Penelope's forehead and then raised it away.

"Once again, I've won," Penelope said, but sounded exasperated rather than prideful. She helped Peterbelly to his feet.

"Fifteen fudging years, and you've never bested me in a fencing match," Peterbelly said, putting one hand on her hip. "If you were ever in a real sword fight, you'd get yourself killed."

"Hey, there are just some stuff you're better than me at," Peterbelly pointed out. "I can't help it if one of those things is combat."

"You mean _everything _I'm better than you at," Penelope said. "What's the point in duelling you if you can never beat me?"

"Hey, there were some stuff that came out of it," Peterbelly said. "Most of the other Nightmare Racers haven't been able to beat me in a fencing match in the past three years."

"Yeah, but it took so long for you to be able to fend them off," Penelope said. "You can beat most of them, but I can beat _all _of them at once!"

"Well instead of duelling him why don't you go a few rounds with your equal?" A voice called out. Penelope and Peterbelly spun around to see Vanellope, leaving on the door leading to the ballroom.

"Get out, president," Penelope ordered.

"Oh come on, are you telling me you're scared to get your hands dirtier than they already are?" Vanellope asked.

Penelope's eye twitched. She wasn't used to this kind of backtalk. Picking up Peterbelly's sword, she flung it to Vanellope, who caught it easily.

"When you get your sorry molasses kicked, don't go whining to your subjects," Penelope warned. Vanellope shrugged and took a fighting stance. Peterbelly stood in the corner, anticipating the fight, but heard a sound coming from outside.

Peaking through the window, Peterbelly saw the Nightmare Racers confronting the Sugar Rush Racers outside.

"Oh geez," He groaned and then slipped through the window to see what was going on, leaving only Penelope, Vanellope, and Sore Bill in the room.

"Start match!" Penelope shouted without even waiting for Bill's signal and charged at Vanellope. She swung the fencing sword, but Vanellope suddenly glitched out of the way.

"Hey!" Penelope shouted as Vanellope materialized behind her and jabbed the fencing sword in her back. Penelope immediately spun around and swung the fencing sword, just barely scraping Vanellope's arm. The president yelped and swung the fencing sword in return, but Penelope blocked her.

Vanellope made several different attacks on the Nightmare Queen, but all of them were blocked. A few times, Vanellope would glitch out of the way when Penelope struck.

"Cheater, stay and fight me!" Penelope shouted as Vanellope glitched to the side. Vanellope ignored the comment and struck out, but Penelope blocked her. Vanellope then glitched a few feet away.

"What, are you scared of losing?" Penelope asked, then added, "_Glitch_."

Vanellope paused. "…What did you call me?" She asked in shock. Penelope took the opportunity and tripped Vanellope, knocking her to the ground. Penelope jabbed the sword in the president's chest and shouted, "Winner!"

Vanellope, however, batted Penelope's sword away and hissed, "That is _not _funny."

"What isn't funny?" Penelope asked, lowering the sword.

"I don't appreciate being called a glitch, do you mind," Vanellope growled and got to her feet.

"Then you shouldn't use your glitch in fencing matches," Penelope retorted.

"Fine, you got me on that, but don't call me that ever again," Vanellope hissed and retreated from the ballroom bitterly. Penelope just shrugged and turned to Sore Bill.

"What's gotten into her?" She asked the majordomo. As usual, she received no response.

* * *

In the town, the Nightmare Racers had crowded around the Sugar Rush Racers, angry sneers on their faces. Tabitha, Francis and Kendall were smirking mischievously.

"Well if it isn't the Horrors from Horrorland," Taffyta sneered. "What do you want from us?"

"Oh nothing, I just wanted to ask you something," Tabitha said. "Remember when you picked on your own president for over a decade?"

"We try not to," Adorabeezle butted in, but was shushed by Nougetsia.

"Yeah, so what exactly did you do to her?" Tabitha asked, grinning maliciously.

"We don't like to talk about it," Jubileena said, shrugging.

"Oh, all we did was vandalise her karts, emotionally ground her in the dirt, beat her up, push her into chocolate puddles, stick her into taffy swamps, and remind her constantly that she was worthless," Candlehead piped up. "But other than that, it was all good."

Taffyta glared at her, and Candlehead promptly whispered, "You know I should probably learn to keep my mouth shut."

Tabitha smirked. "Well isn't that precious," She sneered. "Abusing your president like that, and now you attempt to cover it up as jokes."

"Hey, we were fed lies, okay," Rancis pointed out. "King C-I mean Turbo told us she was dangerous, that she could get the game unplugged and result in ALL OF US, including you, either being homeless or deleted."

"But we didn't do any of the things you did?" Jubilee pointed out.

"Because you weren't faced with that sort of predicament," Taffyta responded.

"But you went about it in the worst way," Jubilee said. "Did you ever bother to sit down and talk to her, explaining to her that she could be a danger to you all?"

"Well, uh…" Taffyta trailed off.

"So you just made her fear you instead of giving a reason," Tabitha guessed. "I wonder what it was like for fifteen years, being tormented and not knowing the whole truth behind it, isn't it."

All the Sugar Rush Racers started feeling guilty as they realized Tabitha had a point. However, it seemed a few of the Nightmares had gotten riled up at what they had heard. Lloyd threw a pumpkin at the Sugar Rush Racers, which exploded upon hitting Minty.

"Bullies, you don't deserve to race!" Lloyd cried as he hurled another pumpkin at the startled racers.

"You evil, rotten children," Kendall hissed as she pushed Candlehead.

"Abusers!"

"Tormenters!"

"Thugs!"

Insults were hurled from all directions at the shocked Sugar Rush Racers, along with physical violence as they were pushed and knocked over and smacked.

"How dare you!" Kendall sneered as she raised her hand to backhand Candlehead, but Rancis leapt to her defence.

"Hey, cut it out!" He shouted and defensively raised his arm, unintentionally knocking Kendall's candle cap off her head. Kendall gasped as her cap went flying and knocked Francis' mirror out of his hand. The cap landed and the candle was crushed while Francis' mirror shattered upon hitting the ground.

Everyone went quiet. Francis and Kendall stared down at their destroyed ornaments before they both went on their knees.

"Baby, are you okay!" Kendall screeched as she huddled her cap. Upon seeing the candle was broken, she sobbed to herself. "No, this can't be!" She wept.

"Kyoko!" Francis shouted as she gathered the shattered pieces of glass together. "Can you hear me Kyoko! Please, you have to get through this!"

The Sugar Rush Racers stared in disbelief at the pathetic sight before them.

"You are kidding me," Candlehead said as Kendall struggled to attach the candle back onto her cap while Francis struggled to fix the broken mirror.

"You idiots!" Tabitha shouted angrily at the Sugar Rush Racers, "Look what you've done!" She lunged at Rancis when Peterbelly suddenly arrived and stepped between the two.

"Get out of my way, Peter!" Tabitha hissed.

"No, Morton," Peterbelly said firmly, holding his ground. Tabitha balled her hands into fists, but Peterbelly then said, "If you strike me, do you know what Penelope will do?"

After considering things, Tabitha dropped her fists and said, "Come on, guys, they aren't worth it." With that, the Nightmare Racers left.

"Hey, are you alright?" Peterbelly asked when he noticed that Rancis has a cut on his cheek.

"Oh, it's fine," Rancis said before adding, "Thanks for standing up for us." Petebelly nodded in gratitude and then left for the Horror Acropolis.

* * *

**A/N: End chapter 16. Read and review.**


	17. The Wager

Vanellope lay face-first on Penelope's massive Queen-sized bed, her hoodie pulled over her head. She sighed as she thought of the recent events that have transpired.

"I'm no glitch," She mumbled to herself, her voice muffled by the mattress. "This is just a superpower or something, a bonus…thing."

She raised one of her fists and pounded the bed in anger, thinking of what Penelope and Tabitha had called her previously. "Those two morons are just jealous that they don't have such a cool power like me," She reasoned to herself.

"D'aw, isn't that right," A voice called out. Vanellope gritted her teeth and looked up to see Penelope standing in the doorway, her arms crossed.

"Go away," Vanellope hissed.

"This is my room, snips," Penelope replied casually. "You don't get to order me around. But I'll humour you; what is so good about being able to teleport like that?"

Vanellope shrugged. "I don't know, it's just a power I possess," She said. "It's what makes me and my game so popular. I'm the most famous racer in the arcade because of my 'glitch'."

"And I'm the most popular racer in Horror Rush," Penelope replied. "But I don't need a glitch to cement that status."

Vanellope jumped off the bed. "Hey, I worked hard to become a good racer, too," She growled, aiming a finger at Penelope, "My glitch isn't all that defines me."

"But it's the main thing that defines you," Penelope said, keeping a straight face, "You're inferior to me when it comes to racing if you don't have your glitch to aid you."

Vanellope balled her hands into fists. "I am a good racer, sister!" She exclaimed. "And it's not just because of my…power."

"Oh sure, you're a good racer, but are you a better racer?" Penelope inquired, grinning. "Are any of your subjects better racers?"

"They're better than yours," Vanellope growled. "After all, we're the most popular racers in the arcade for a reason."

"Want to put a wager on that?" Penelope asked. Vanellope abruptly nodded.

"Okay, we'll have a race," Penelope stated.

"Okay then, fair enough," Vanellope replied, putting her hands on her hips. "But even if we lose, we'll still walk away the better sport and therefore the better person."

"I was hoping you'd say that," Penelope responded. "That's why the race is the LAST of our little tournament."

Vanellope suddenly got intimidated. "What do you mean, last?" She asked.

"First, before our climactic race, we'll play capture the flag, dodge ball, battleship, a combination of the last two, and then the race."

Upon considering what Penelope had just said, Vanellope nodded. "Fine, what could a few harmless games mean to me?" She said to reassure herself. "So, what happens if we do lose?"

"You will have to live with the fact that you lost?" Penelope replied smugly. Vanellope blinked twice in surprise.

"What?" She said in disbelief. "That's it? No money. No candy? Just the fact that we lost is good enough for you."

"That's how a roll," Penelope said. "So, is it a deal, Von Schweetz?"

Vanellope immediately nodded and shook Penelope's hand. At that moment, Peterbelly returned to the Horror Acropolis and interrupted the two.

"Hey, what are you guys betting on?" He asked, confused.

"Oh, we're going to hold a tournament," Vanellope replied. "And my racers are going to win one way or another."

"Tournament?" Peterbelly said. "You mean, the capture the flag, dodge ball, battleship, combination, and race tournament?" Both Vanellope and Penelope nodded.

"Dude, you do NOT want to do that?" Peterbelly warned. "You have no idea how ridiculously over-the-top those games can get."

"I hail from Sugar Rush, son, I'm prepared for how over-the-top any of her challenges are," Vanellope insisted, folding her arms.

"But the Nightmare Scrappies will go to extreme lengths to win," Peterbelly said. Vanellope shrugged.

"We can take it," She reassured him. "In my game, we're routinely faced with exploding cherries, candy homing missiles, laffy taffy, inept doughnut cops, and Taffyta's whining."

"But the tournaments have-" Peterbelly started but Penelope shushed him. "I want this to be a surprise, Peter," She said. "But in the meantime, I have to make a phone call to a friend." She whipped out a cellphone and dialled 66 before waiting to receive a call.

After a while, Penelope heard a voice coming from the other end of the phone and replied to it. Vanellope could only make out a few words because Penelope was whispering extremely quietly.

"Tournament…Battlefront…planet…" Was what Vanellope got out before Penelope ended the call.

"Who were you talking to?" Vanellope asked. "An old friend," Penelope replied. "Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to the transportation bay."

"Transportation what?" Vanellope asked. However, Penelope simply disappeared from the room and took off.

"Um, Peterbelly, what is she talking about?" Vanellope asked. Before Peterbelly could answer, a red beam shot out from under them.

"Sweet mother of-!" Vanellope shouted before she and Peterbelly both vanished into thin air.

* * *

"Guys, we really have to come up with a game plan," Taffyta was saying to the other Sugar Rush Racers on a large bench next to Nougat's ice rink, "Those Nightmares just totally humiliated us."

"But what the cherry fudge can we do about it?" Jubileena asked, flailing her arms up in the air. "We're in their land."

"I know but-" Taffyta started when the red beams suddenly appeared, engulfing all of the racers and causing them to vanish as well.

* * *

"Well, that first attempt failed disastrously," Tabitha said to the other Nightmares. "Peter, freakin' Peter, actually came to the rescue of those jackasses."

"I guess he was always one of them," Francis said, admiring himself in the mirror. "We should of seen it coming."

"I guess so," Kendall whispered, but suddenly the red beams appeared and zapped all of them.

"Ooh, they're holding another tournament," Jubilee said excitedly. "I can't wait for the capture the flag to begin!" The Nightmare Racers then disappeared from the town.

* * *

Vanellope's eyes fluttered open, and she found she was lying in front of a gigantic temple. Getting to her feet, she found herself in a massive city, way larger than Sugar Rush, with spaceships flying over in the sky. It had a similar colour palette to Horror Rush, though.

"Oh, what happened?" She heard Rancis say behind her. Vanellope turned around to see the Nightmares and Sugar Rush Racers all at the temple as well.

Penelope came rushing over to her. "Well, we're here," She said excitedly.

"I asked for a tournament, not for any of this?" Vanellope said. "Where did you take us, anyways?"

"Ask them," Penelope said, pointing up into the air. Vanellope glanced up into the sky to see a LAAT/I gunship hovering towards them. It landed in front of them, and the side doors opened.

At that point, the racers saw a gray palette swap of Anakin Skywalker and a half dozen gray clone troopers march out of gunship, blasters slung over their shoulders.

"I received a call from Penelope von Sweets," Nightmare Anakin said. "Now, what planet shall we take this tournament on this time?"

Vanellope stared at them. And her mouth hit the floor.

* * *

**A/N: End of chapter seventeen. If this doesn't get some reviews…**


	18. Star Wars Battlefront II

Vanellope's jaw hung open as she stared at Nightmare Anakin and his squad of Nightmare Troopers. Nightmare Anakin had been totally oblivious to Vanellope, however; his attention was on Penelope.

"So, Queen Penelope, what planet will the tournament be held this time?" Nightmare Anakin repeated. "I am, of course, talking about the capture-the-flag tournament."

"Why, Anacin, the answer is very simple," Penelope replied, grinning. "The capture the flag will be hosted in the DS-1 Orbital Battle Station."

By now, the Sugar Rush Racers had collected themselves and noticed the group of Nightmare Troopers with their massive blasters. They gulped and backed away a bit.

"Are they going to execute us?" Candlehead whispered nervously to Vanellope. Tabitha, however, shoved in between them.

"Of course not, you idiot," She sneered. "Penelope is hosting a great capture the flag tournament, and we came to the _Star Wars: Battlefront II _PS2 system to host it."

"Wait, PS2 system?" Vanellope said, confused. "But aren't you from the arcade?"

"Oh we are, but we can travel to different gaming systems as well," Jubilee said, pushing past Tabitha. "Play Station, Xbox, Wii, GameCube, you name it."

Vanellope felt that twinge of envy once again. As far as she was concerned, the regular arcade characters couldn't travel to different gaming systems like the Nightmares could. Before she could dwell on it for long, Rancis said, "Hey, if we're playing capture the flag, where is it going to be held?"

"I told you already," Penelope snapped. "The DS-1 Orbital Battle Station."

"…What the heck does that mean?" Rancis asked. Fortunately for him, Peterbelly was able to phrase it better.

"We're hosting the tournament in the _Death Star_," He explained to Rancis. At the mention of the word, 'death', a few of the Sugar Rush Racers started panicking.

"Are we going to die?" Candlehead screeched. "And we aren't even in our game! We won't regenerate!"

"Don't worry," Penelope said calmly. "Star Wars Battlefront II has an automatic regeneration something. When you die, you're disqualified from the current tournament and beam up back at the Coruscate Jedi headquarters."

At that, the Sugar Rush Racers began to calm down a bit.

"Well, what's going to happen?" Jubileena asked curiously. Penelope tuned to face her, an amused smile on her face.

"Well, that's very simple," Penelope replied. "When we arrive at the DS-1 Orbital Battle Station, we'll meet up with the Emperor and Dark Vader, and they'll host the tournament."

"Well, what's going to happen in the tournament?" Jubileena asked again.

"We play capture the flag," Penelope answered, now somewhat irritated. "There are no rules for capture the flag except that you must get the flag to your team base."

The ears of the Sugar Rush Racers perked up a bit.

"No rules, eh?" Taffyta said, smirking. "So we can do whatever we please during the tournament."

"Whatever you please," Penelope replied, smiling. "My subjects and I used to play capture the flag against Battlefront's Troopers, but there were rules that resulted in the fun being diminished. So, we banished all the rules. No amount of destruction can be held against you."

"Sweet!" All the Sugar Rush Racers shouted. "So, where is this Death Star?"

Oh, it's all the way up there," Penelope said, pointing up at the sky. The Sugar Rush Racers looked up and saw a large space station orbiting above Coruscate."

"Um, how are we going to reach up there?" Vanellope asked.

"The gunships, a'doi," Penelope said. As if on cue, several gunships hovered down to the Jedi Temple to pick them up.

"Man, I need to get me one of those," Vanellope whispered to herself as the Sugar Rush Racers and Nightmares boarded the ship.

The gunships took off into the sky once the racers were all on board. "So, what's the Emperor like?" Vanellope asked Anacin. "Is he nice?"

"Uh, let's not worry about that right now," Anacin responded, avoiding Vanellope's gaze. In no time at all, the gunships had landed in the massive space station. They were greeted by dozens of gray stormtroopers and a gray version of Darth Vader.

"Dark Vader, I see you've expected us," Anacin said. Dark Vader breathed a bit, then simply nodded.

"Okay, we're just holding a tournament in your space station again," Anacin explained quickly. "And, since the Death Star will automatically repair once the session is over, you don't have to worry about your station being busted up."

Dark Vader breathed in relief and nodded.

At that point, the Emperor himself arrived. The Sugar Rush Racers nearly puked upon seeing his hideous face. However, he ignored them.

"I see you are holding another tournament," He said in a slithery voice.

"Dude, what's up with that guys face?" Taffyta whispered. Unfortunately for her, the Emperor heard her comment and promptly zapped her with his Force lightning.

"Quiet, you," He snapped before turning back to Penelope. "Everything that transpires in this tournament must do so by my design."

"I understand that, Emperor," Penelope said, curtseying. "But honestly, you say that every time we arrive here."

"Would you like a serving of electricity to get the point across then?" The Emperor asked menacingly. Penelope gulped and shook her head.

"In that case, let's get this tournament ready," The Emperor hissed. "Open the trapdoors."

"Wait, what trap-DOORS!" Vanellope said when several trapdoors were suddenly opened under the feet of the racers, sending them plummeting down the station until they landed in a hangar bay. The Sugar Rush Racers had landed in one bay while the Nightmares had landed in another one.

"I take it the tournament has started," Vanellope said. "Well then, let's get this thing started."

* * *

"Witchy, I honestly think we are heading into someplace bad," Licorice whispered to Witchy. By now, the forest had started to appear more menacing than usual. The trees had become more sharp and spiked and the road had become more rocky.

"Nonsense, Licorice," Witchy reassured, trying to hide her uncertainty. "I mean, this is of no concern. Soon, we'll be back in Sugar Rush."

"But what if we are ambushed again?" Crème Glace asked from behind the racers. "If someone attacks us, remember that I have my magic wand with us," Witchy replied, holding up her wand so the scrapped racers could see.

At that point, a large red blast of light was shot up into the sky. "What was that?" Witchy asked panicking. The light dropped down on the scrapped racers, encasing them in a large block.

Witchy instantly shot a blast of electricity at the block, trying to free herself and the others, but the block didn't appear to be harmed at all.

"Well, this is unfortunate," Witchy said. Then, things just got worse as several figures scurried towards the trapped scrapped racers.

It was the Nightmare Scrappies.

The Nightmare Scrappies clawed at the block until the Nightmare Witchy appeared. Her glowing red eyes gleamed when she saw the scrapped racers, and she grinned, revealing fanged teeth.

"_Well, look who I have caught in my net this time," _She hissed.

The scrappies gulped.

"Oh boy," Was all Witchy said.

* * *

**A/N: End of chapter eighteen. The more reviews, the quicker I'll update.**


	19. Death Star: Capture the Flag

**A/N: This is the first time I'm responding to reviews, so here it goes:**

**Prince Kyle Lancer: You can bet your life things are going to get more difficult. Go back to chapter eleven and you'll see they mean business.**

**AlecReyes19: Well, here they are.**

**Treehugger: Unfortunately, I don't know if there are chat forums for those without an email address. Sorry about that.**

**Hennessey: Let's just say you won't be hearing from them for the next few chapters.**

**Now, onto the story.**

* * *

Vanellope led the Sugar Rush Racers through the unfamiliar Death Star, all of them on the lookout for the Nightmare Racers.

"This is creepy as fudge," Candlehead whispered to Vanellope. "Do you even know how to play the game?" Before Vanellope could respond, the Emperor's voice suddenly filled the room.

"I'm glad you asked that," He snarled, startling the racers. "The flag is in the centre of the Death Star, and you're heading towards it at the moment. Once you retrieve it, you must take the flag to a portal located in the enemy base."

"Enemy base?!" Vanellope shrieked.

"Well yeah, you didn't think this would be easy, did you?" The Emperor sneered. "Oh, and there are a supply of weapons awaiting you near the flag." His voice was then cut off.

"Wait, what about weapons?" Vanellope asked, receiving no answers in return. "Is this some sort of war game or something?"

"Well we better just go and find the flag if we're going to find out," Gloyd pointed out. With that, the Sugar Rush Racers continued through a chamber. The group soon found themselves in a massive room with a large energy generating cannon.

"Wow, that green ball looks like Sour Bill," Swizzle commented as the group continued. The racers were then led to a door leading to another, similar sized room filled with large platforms

"Okay, I think the flag is somewhere around here," Vanellope said, leading the racers to a small platform area. As Vanellope had predicted, the flag was lying on one of the platforms, and next to it was a vast array of untouched guns.

The Sugar Rush Racers immediately converged upon the flag and weapons. There were no Nightmares in sight, so the task seemed simple.

"Welcome to the platform bay," The Sugar Rush Racers called out. The glanced around to see several Nightmares appear on a few metal pillars. The Nightmares consisted of Penelope, Tabitha, Kendall, Francis, Lloyd, Mindy, Vicky and Swiss.

"Oh boy," Vanellope said. Nevertheless, Candlehead pounced and grabbed the flag.

"Get them!" Penelope ordered, and the Nightmares unveiled their weapons. Some were from Horror Rush, others were from the Death Star.

"Get the guns!" Vanellope ordered, and the Sugar Rush Racers grabbed the guns as the Nightmares fired upon the Sugar Rush Racers. Surprisingly, none of the Sugar Rush Racers were shot.

The Nightmares continued firing upon the Sugar Rush Racers, who struggled to fire back. Penelope, who had a rocket launcher, took aim at Candlehead, who had the flag.

"Watch out!" Vanellope cried as Penelope fired the rocket launcher at the Sugar Rush Racers. The resulting explosion sent the racers flying in all directions, but still resulted in no casualties. However, the Sugar Rush Racers had been scattered in the process and Candlehead was left dangling from one of the platforms.

Tabitha and Kendall dropped onto the platforms and both took aim at Candlehead. However, Gloyd raised his gun and shot Kendall in the shoulder, causing her to yelp and stumble in front of Tabitha, who nonchalantly shoved Kendall off the platform.

Candlehead was holding onto the platform for dear life, but when she saw Kendall fall, she instinctively grabbed onto her shoulder. Kendall's eyes widened in shock.

"What are you doing?" She asked. "Saving your gray posteriors," Candlehead answered and helped Kendall onto the platform. However, Tabitha suddenly booted Candlehead in the face and grabbed the flag while Candlehead plummeted off the platform and into the dark abyss below.

"No!" Rancis shouted and, grabbing a chain gun, unleashed a hurricane of bullets at the Nightmares. In the chaos, Vicky was practically torn apart by the bullets that rained into her while Swiss was shot in the arm, injuring him.

Tabitha stumbled out of the way and shouted at the Nightmares, "Go forward, get them!" The Nightmares obeyed and charged forward, firing at the Sugar Rush Racers. Rancis stayed in front of the panicking Sugar Rush Racers and continued firing wildly at the advancing Nightmares.

Tabitha tried to slink away with the flag, but was caught off-guard when Swizzle unleashed a drop kick, knocking Tabitha away, and grabbed the flag.

"Whoo, I have the flag!" Swizzle cheered, then silently swore as all attention was diverted towards him. Swizzle yelped and began to flee as the Nightmares began firing at him. In an attempt to shield himself, Swizzle jumped onto one of the energy pillars.

"Bring in the kart!" Swiss shouted. Mindy nodded and pressed a button, and a door was opened and Swiss' kart rolled out. Swiss pounced into the kart and drove over the platforms towards Swizzle, laughing maniacally.

Swizzle's eyes widened as Swiss pressed numerous buttons on the kart, and several rocket launchers and Sweet Seekers were activated. Swizzle had no time to jump as the rockets were launched towards him.

"No," Swizzle whispered as the rockets torpedoed towards him.

All fighting came to a stop when everyone heard the explosion. Everyone spun around to see half the platform area set on fire. Chunks of the platform went flying, crashing down onto the shocked racers. Out of the corner of Vanellope's eye, she saw Swizzle's scorched body go flying through the air and into the abyss.

The moment Swizzle's body vanished, the silhouette of Swiss' kart formed behind the wall of fire. Eyes glowing orange, Swiss and his kart zoomed through the fire, two blaster guns in his hand and the flag attached to his back.

"Run!" Vanellope shouted, forgetting about the flag. Swiss fired both blasters wildly like a madman, screeching like a wild animal as Sugar Rush Racers were downed left and right.

Vanellope collapsed onto one of the platforms, and turned around to see Rancis, several bullet holes in his body, lying on the platforms with his eyes open. Then, his body vanished.

Gritting her teeth, Vanellope grabbed a rocket launcher and took aim towards Swiss' kart as it drove through the platform. Then, Vanellope fired.

The rocket smashed dead centre into Swiss' kart. A fiery explosion ensued, burning several Nightmares to a crisp and knocking Vanellope backwards. She collapsed as a pillar, caught in the explosion, toppled over onto a platform, sending nearly all the Nightmares present plummeting into the abyss below.

Swiss was nowhere to be seen, but Vanellope spotted the flag and grabbed it. The moment she did, she heard a signal, almost like a tracking device.

"I think it's supposed to lead me to the portal," Vanellope correctly guessed and glitched out of the platform bay and through the Death Star. After a while, she reached a large corridor leading to the hangar bay.

"This is it," Vanellope said, tired, but then a large mirror shard was hurled in her direction. Spinning around, she saw Francis, Lloyd, and Penelope, who had escaped the explosion.

"Game over, glitch," Penelope hissed and pulled out a red lightsaber. Vanellope gulped and raised her gun, firing several times at Penelope, who deflected the bullets. One bullet bounced back and struck Vanellope in the shoulder. Gasping in pain, Vanellope fled towards the hangar bay, where she saw the white portal.

Unfortunately, she then realized that all the remaining Nightmares were in the hangar. Groaning in pain, Vanellope limped down the stairs as the Nightmares started shooting at her or finding another means to do harm.

Crumbelina grabbed a large cinder block and hurled it at Vanellope, knocking her down the stairs. Gasping in pain, Vanellope got to her feet and knocked Snowanna and Nougat aside. As she neared the portal, Jubileena hurled a cherry bomb at her.

"Sweet mother of monkey milk," Vanellope whispered as the cherry bomb exploded, sending her flying towards the portal. She landed with a sickening thud a few inches away from the portal. Vanellope glanced towards the portal and began dragging herself towards it. However, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a red blade flying towards her.

Before Vanellope could comprehend what was happening, the hurled lightsaber pierced Vanellope in the back, causing her to scream in pain. She had been totally skewered; the blade had impaled her and left her lying on the floor.

Penelope pranced towards Vanellope victoriously. "Bet you haven't felt that pain back in Sugar Rush, huh?" She sneered, but didn't notice Vanellope raise the flag until it was too late. As the Nightmares all pounced towards Vanellope, she threw the flag into the portal just before succumbing to her injuries and vanishing.

"She, she won," Jubilee whispered in shock. Then, the Nightmares all began to vanish as they were being transported to the next round.

Penelope stood in shock as the rest of the Nightmares began to disappear. Then, just as she began to vanish, she narrowed her eyes and whispered, "Never again."

* * *

**A/N: Well, how was that for a first round? Let me know in your reviews.**


	20. Geonosis: DodgeBall

_VickyT36: They're just being transported back to headquarters._

_AlecReyes19: Me neither, and I wrote it! _

_A-Plus Cassiopeia:…_

_Anyways, on with the story._

* * *

The Sugar Rush Racers and the Nightmare Racers all transported back into the Jedi Temple, where Anacin and a Nightmare version of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda awaited them.

Penelope was groaning, humiliated at having lost the first round.

"Lost the battle, you did," Nightmare Yoda mused, as if reading her mind. "Disappointed, you are."

"No need to dwell on it, Grand Master Yoga," Penelope said uneasily. "It was a lucky victory, that's all. We pretty much eradicated her whole team, and it was only with her glitch that she managed to barely get the best of us. We had her impaled and all, and she could barely move…"

"Violence, victory it brings not," Yoga taught, making Penelope roll her eyes. "Strategy, thoughtfulness, powerful those are. Focus on those you must."

"Enough with the lousy morals!" Tabitha interrupted. "Let's get on with the dodge ball match, I really want to get on with that one!"

"Yeah, it's my favourite tournament!" Swiss shouted. "Let the game begin!"

Yoga sighed and turned to Nightmare Obi-Wan. "Ben, show them where the tournament is being held," He commanded. Ben Kenobi nodded and turned to the racers.

"Dodge ball is being held on Geonosis, the desert planet," He explained. "It's pretty much just desert, so it's rather simple. You'll play dodge ball there until the Nightmares win."

Vanellope, who had been quiet throughout the whole conversation, spoke up. "What do you mean, 'until the Nightmares win'?" She asked angrily.

"Um…" Ben said but didn't finish.

"Hey, my subjects beat Penelope's fair and square in the capture the flag match," Vanellope pointed out. "And that round was hell! I think we can handle throwing a few rubber balls!"

"If you insist," Ben Kenobi said before clicking a button on his wrist. With that, the racers all began to vanish.

"We'll whoop those Sugary Racers, just you watch!" Penelope exclaimed before disappearing too, until only Anacin, Yoga, and Ben remained.

Yoga sighed. "Change her ways, Penelope must," He said. "Find peace, she thus will."

"Dude, I have no idea what you are saying," Anacin bluntly replied with folded arms.

* * *

Vanellope and the Sugar Rush Racers all teleported onto a red, sandy desert area. Vanellope was the first to get to her feet, and looked around at the barren landscape.

"Sweet mother of monkey milk, this place looks AWFUL!" Vanellope commented distastefully. "Who would want to be HERE?"

"Ow ow, this sand burns!" Rancis shouted, jumping about on his toes. "How are we going to walk around here!"

"Hey, this is dodge ball, do you think things are going to be easy for us?" Swizzle asked. "We have to do this to prove to those losers that we aren't inferior to them!"

"Yeah!" Vanellope agreed, but as she glanced around, she added, "Wait, where are the dodge balls?"

Suddenly, a giant blue missile fired several kilometres away landed in the centre of the racers, unleashing a massive explosion that sent the racers flying in all directions. Vanellope glitches away before she was seriously harmed and landed on a sand dune.

"What was that?!" She shouted. It was then that she noticed the Nightmares far off in the distance. Jubilee, Kendall, and Mindy manned a massive All Terrain-Tactical Enforcer, which stomped towards the disoriented Sugar Rush Racers.

Mindy, who was piloting the main cannon, fired a shot at the majority of the Sugar Rush Racers. Minty, Sticky and Torvald were all evaporated by the blast.

Penelope, who was leading the Nightmares, aimed at the remaining Sugar Rush Racers and shouted, "CHARGE!" Instantly, the Nightmares advanced en masse towards the defenceless Sugar Rush Racers, blasters in hand.

"I thought this was dodge ball!" Vanellope cried as she struggled to dodge the lasers fired at her from the Nightmares.

"It is," Ben's voice echoed out of nowhere. "You dodge the laser balls fired at you."

Another cannon fire sent Vanellope flying several feet. "You really need to rename your activities!" Vanellope shouted out as soon as she hit the ground.

"It's not much fun that way," Ben replied before transmitting ended.

Vanellope noticed a pile of blasters lying next to the Sugar Rush Racers, who hadn't seen them because they were distracted trying to dodge all the laser being fired at them. "Go, get the guns!" Vanellope ordered, and the racers galloped towards the weapons. Mindy, however, anticipate this and fired another blast at the gun pile. Just as the racers reached the guns, the blast struck the guns and burst them all into flames, taking several unfortunate racers with them.

"What the cherry bombs!" Jubilee cried as she was set on fire and burned to a crisp.

"Not fair!" Vanellope shouted. However, she realized she had to improvise if they were to win. Glitching towards the Nightmares, she snatched a gun from Kendall and knocked her over. "Shoot her!" Penelope ordered, but Vanellope was too quick. She glitches away and began firing at the Nightmares, shooting Francis, Vicky, and Joanna. However, the Sugar Rush Racers were still outnumbered.

"Wait, we don't have any weapons yet!" Rancis cried out in a futile attempt to gain mercy. Instead, Penelope shot him in the chest. Gasping, Rancis collapsed on the ground. Penelope ran towards him and began shooting him repeatedly until he vanished away.

"Dude, that's a bit overkill!" Peterbelly pointed out. "Who cares!" Penelope shouted. "This is a war, and we have to win!"

"I know but-" Peterbelly was cut off when a Sweet Seeker was fired and landed near. Peterbelly couldn't get out of the way in time and he was caught in the explosion, along with Kendall, Cymbeline, and Ella.

Penelope stood in shock as Peterbelly vanished right in front of her. She then turned towards the source of the Sweet Seeker and saw Swizzle riding his Tongue Twister, firing Sweet Seekers at the Nightmares and gaining the upper hand for the Sugar Rush Racers.

Penelope growled at Swizzle and ran towards him, blaster in hand. Picking up the blaster of Kendall, she charged at Swizzle, firing wildly at him. Despite Swizzle's efforts, he failed to gun down Penelope as she sped towards him.

As Penelope shot down several Sugar Rush Racers, she pounced on Swizzle and shot him point-black in the face, causing him to vanish. Taking control of the Tongue Twister, she began firing at the Sugar Rush Racers, obliterating them all.

Vanellope watched in shock as her subjects were eradicated. Then, before she could respond, Tabitha shot her in the back with a blaster. "Game over, glitch," She growled as Vanellope collapsed and vanished.

The moment all the Sugar Rush Racers had vanished, Penelope rode up in the Tongue Twister. "Well, that takes care of them," She complimented victoriously. "Good to know we won THIS round."

The Nightmares giggled mischievously as they began to be teleported back to the Jedi Temple.

* * *

The moment they were all in the temple, Penelope jumped up in down in front of Anacin. "Yippee, we won this time!" She shouted at the Jedi. "And you Jedi said that violence doesn't bring victory. Well, it just did!"

Begrudgingly, all three Jedi nodded. At the same time, the Sugar Rush Racers stood next to the Nightmares, struggling to recover from their loss.

"That hurt way more than it should have," Rancis said, groaning from having been shot repeatedly. "So, what do we have next?"

"Battleship," Yoga revealed.

"Oh, goodie," Vanellope said sarcastically, stretching herself and rolling her eyes.

* * *

Ralph pushed past several marines in Hero's Duty as he lumbered towards the tower to find Felix and Calhoun. Ever since the two had married, Felix had spent more time in Hero's Duty to be with his wife.

All Ralph could think of was how weird Vanellope had been acting at the penthouse, and he knew he couldn't just ignore it. And of course, he was going to get some help before going to find out what the problem was.

"Hey! Sorry, didn't mean to. Watch it!" Ralph shouted as he shoved through the crowd of marines until he reached the tower. Pushing through the gates, Ralph lumbered quickly through the hallways until he found the room where Calhoun stayed.

Ralph immediately pushed the door open. "Hey, Felix, we have a…whoa!" He shouted in surprise when he saw Felix on top of Calhoun under the bed.

"Oh honey, you're so-" Felix was saying until he noticed Ralph. Screaming in shock, the two pulled the bed covers over them and Calhoun grabbed a machine gun off the wall.

"What in Hologram's name are you doing here!" Calhoun shouted as she aimed the machine gun at Ralph, who backed away a bit.

"Um, I have a problem," Ralph started. "What, is it that you don't know how to knock!" Calhoun asked, the machine gun still raised at Ralph. Felix, however, gently pushed the gun down.

"What were you saying, Ralph?" Felix asked, still recovering from his initial shock.

"Vanellope came to me earlier, and she was acting all weird and stuff," Ralph explained. "She mentioned gray people or something and asked if I knew anything about them. And then she just left when I started asking questions."

"Oh my land, you think this has to do with Turbo?" Felix asked.

"Uh, Vanellope said no, but I think we should check on her," Ralph said. "I have a feeling she's in serious trouble."

"In that case, let's get going!" Felix exclaimed. He was about to get out from the covers, but Ralph quickly said, "Uh, put some clothes on first, though."

Felix and even Calhoun blushed. "Yeah, let's do that, too," Felix muttered, embarrassed.


	21. Space Mygeeto: Battleship

_AlecReyes19: You haven't seen anything yet!_

_A-Plus Cassiopeia: You were mentioned like that because your previous review stated something extremely obvious._

_With that said, let's continue._

* * *

The Sugar Rush Racers and the Nightmare Racers once again found themselves standing before The Emperor, his yellow eyes gleaming.

"So, uh, about this battleship thing," Vanellope started. "So, what's going to happen?"

"You racers will fight a space battle until one side wins," The Emperor explained. "You'll be fighting in the atmosphere of Mygeeto."

"Oh, and what will we have?" Vanellope asked. "Like, ships and stuff."

"Simple, you sugary racers are going to play as the Republic Navy," The Emperor explained further. "The Nightmares will be playing as the Confederate Navy. Each of you will have a command ship and three frigates."

The Sugar Rush Racers scratched their heads, confused. "How will we tell them apart?" Taffyta broke the silence.

"You will know when you play the game," The Emperor said. "Which will start in a few seconds."

Gloyd and Lloyd turned to each other. "Okay, I'm betting that my side is going to win," Gloyd said. "All you guys know how to do is blow things up."

"Yeah, well it sure one us the dodge ball match," Lloyd retorted with a smirk.

"But it lost you the capture the flag match," Gloyd reminded. "So, if my team does win, what do you bet?"

"I'll give you my Halloween's candy savings," Lloyd bargained. "But if you lose, which you will, you owe me a pumpkin patch."

"Deal!" Gloyd and Lloyd both said, shaking hands. At the same time, Vanellope and Penelope were tense.

"We're tied," Vanellope whispered to the Nightmare Queen. "I have to win this round."

"Tough luck, because you won't win," Penelope sneered. "My team has played the battleship level countless times for over a decade, and you haven't played it once."

"We'll see who's superior," Vanellope said, narrowing her eyes. "Just you wait."

"And, the game starts now!" The Emperor bellowed, snapping his fingers, to which the racers all vanished. The moment they were gone, he sighed.

"I thought they'd never leave," He groaned.

* * *

The Sugar Rush Racers all spawned inside the hangar bay of their flagship, a Venator-class Star Destroyer. Within the bay was five small star fighters.

"What is this thing?" Candlehead asked. "I've never seen it before."

"I think it's some giant battleship," Vanellope guessed. She then glance outside the hangar bay and off into space, where she saw the planet of Mygeeto orbiting.

"That's one big ball," She whispered before noticed the Nightmare flagship, the Providence-class cruiser-carrier, flanked by three frigates. In the far distance, she could see a few star fighters flying out of the hangar of the cruiser.

"I think those are the Nightmares!" Vanellope called out. Suddenly, the star fighters zoomed for the capital ship and fired several shots at it. Though shielded, the ship began to shake from the fire being rained upon it, causing the Sugar Rush Racers to stumble around.

"What is that?!" Taffyta asked when she saw a droid gunship fly into the hangar bay and land in the center of the bay. Immediately, Tabitha, Francis and Kendall spawned inside the hangar, all of them armed with guns. It was then that the Sugar Rush Racers remembered that they had forgotten to grab their own guns.

"Run!" Vanellope shouted as the three Nightmares shot at them. The Sugar Rush Racers bolted for their star fighters, but Crumbelina and Snowanna were both shot by Tabitha. Vanellope dove inside her own gunship just before Kendall could shoot her.

Due to being an experienced driver, Vanellope instantly recognized the controls of the gunship. She saw Rancis and Candlehead board the gunship as well.

"Come on, let's go!" Vanellope said as she flew the gunship out of the hangar bay and into the battle. The other Sugar Rush Racers immediately followed, flying off in their own star fighters, leaving the Nightmare Trio in the hangar bay.

"They're gone Tabitha, what do we do now?" Kendall asked, her blaster hanging by her fingers. Tabitha lowered her gun and smirked.

"This ship is practically ours now, let's destroy it!" Tabitha announced. She ran towards the stairs of the ship and through the sliding doors, revealing the main control room.

"We've got to take this ship apart!" Tabitha explained to her cohorts. "Let's start with their auto turrets! I'll bomb them and leave the ship defenceless!" Turning to Kendall, she said, "Take out their engines, and Francis will shut off their life supports systems!"

Francis and Kendall nodded and set off to do their respective duties. The moment they were gone, Tabitha planted a few time bombs on the auto turret system, which exploded, increasing damage on it.

Soon, the auto turrets had been disabled by the bombs. Tabitha smirked, but was unprepared when she was shot in the chest by one of the security mainframe guns hanging from the ceiling. Gasping in shock, Tabitha collapsed on the ground, clutching her burning chest.

At that moment, Kendall and Francis both returned, having already taken out the engines and life support systems. "Hey, Tabitha, we did it and…Tabitha, what's wrong with you?" Kendall asked when she saw Tabitha lying on the ground.

"Get me to…the medial droid…" Tabitha groaned, her life depleting. Kendall and Francis both nodded. "Alright, no can do," Kendall said and she and Francis picked Tabitha up and began carrying her towards the hangar bay.

"Yes, yes," Tabitha whispered quietly as they approached the medical droid, but her eyes widened when the two passed right by it.

"Wait, what are you doing?" She asked as the three neared the exit of the hangar bay.

"There's a medical droid on Mygeeto," Francis explained as the two neared the exit. Tabitha gasped.

"Wait, no, I meant the medical droid on the ship!" Tabitha shouted, but it was too late. Kendall and Francis heaved and tossed Tabitha clean out of the ship and watched her screaming body soar downwards towards the planet below.

The moment she was gone, Kendall looked up and said, "You know, I think she was talking about the medical droid on the ship."

Francis shrugged. "Too late for that," He remarked.

* * *

Vanellope, Rancis and Candlehead flew in their gunship, struggling to dodge the Nightmare star fighters that zipped by them. In the time during which the Nightmare trio had half-disabled the entire flagship, the Sugar Rush Racers had lost quite a few Sugar Rush Racers in the fight.

"This is going way too slow!" Rancis said. "How are we going to win this thing?" Vanellope, however, was too busy shooting down Mindy's bomber ship to hear him.

"Wait a second, why don't we just fly into the hangar bay of their flagship?" Candlehead asked. "We could totally bomb everything up!"

"Good idea, I guess!" Vanellope called out and began to fly towards the flagship. However, Penelope, piloting a Jedi star fighter, flew towards them and began firing at their ship.

"Sweet mother of monkey milk!" Vanellope shouted as she spiralled out of the way, Penelope spinning around to continue firing at them. "Take that ship down!" Penelope ordered, to which Swiss, Cymbeline, Joanna, and Jubilee all began focusing their attacks on the gunship.

"We're taking heavy fire!" Rancis shouted as the wing of the gunship caught on fire. "We have to get this ship inside the hangar bay now!"

Immediately, Vanellope flew the ship towards the hangar bay, Penelope following and shooting at them from behind. It was an easy enough job, as the gunship was very large and slow moving, making it an easy target. However, before Penelope could finish the ship off, Vanellope landed it inside the hangar bay.

"Let's get out of this ship!" Rancis said as he, Vanellope and Candlehead exited the gunship, which was collapsing as a result of all the fire it had taken. Immediately, Penelope landed her ship in the flagship as well.

"Get back here!" She shouted as she exited the star fighter and followed the three racers, firing at them with her blaster.

Vanellope saw a bomber lying in the hangar. "Rancis, get in that bomber and shoot down all their frigates!" She ordered. Rancis obeyed and dove towards the bomber as Penelope fired wildly at him.

"Die, you son of a glitch, die!" Penelope shouted maniacally, but she failed to shot Rancis. He dove inside the bomber and took off. Groaning, Penelope turned her attention to Vanellope and Candlehead, who had ran up the stairs and into the main control room.

"Oh shoot!" She exclaimed.

Inside the main control room, Vanellope began planting bombs on the auto turret system, disabling it. Candlehead, in the meantime, had gotten a blaster and destroyed the security system.

"This is surprisingly easy," Candlehead said.

"Yeah, you'd think those Nightmares would have a backup plan in case we entered their ship," Vanellope said. As if on cue, Vicky and Tovar ran out from inside the hangar bay room and shot Candlehead repeatedly.

"Sweet mother of monkey milk!" Vanellope shouted out and ran off, dodging the bullets being fired in her direction. Entering the life supports system room, Vanellope began hurling bombs around the room in a frantic attempt to destroy the life supports.

Vicky and Tovar entered the room. "Get her!" Tovar shouted as she and Vicky shot at Vanellope. However, she planted one last bomb on the system, blowing it up and disabling the life supports systems. The explosion knocked Vanellope, Vicky and Tovar several feet away. While the Nightmares were knocked unconscious, Vanellope managed to get to her feet.

"Okay, just got to destroy the engines, and we'll be okay," She whispered to herself.

* * *

From in space, Gloyd flew his bomber around the frigates, firing bombs at them, damaging them severely. From in the corner of Gloyd's eye, he noticed Lloyd trailing behind him.

"Time to get myself that pumpkin patch," Lloyd whispered and began firing at Gloyd. However, Gloyd was surprisingly maneuverable and dodged all the blasters. Spinning around, Gloyd launched a barrage of bombs onto one of the frigates, causing it to collapse.

"Yeah, we're winning!" Gloyd shouted out as he began firing at a second frigate. Lloyd gritted his teeth and fired at him again, this time managing to damage Gloyd's ship, but not critically.

"Come on!" Gloyd shouted as he shot another frigate, blowing it up. Seeing the frigate explode, Gloyd briefly released his controls to cheer for himself.

"Yeah, we're going to win, and I'm going to get myself some candy!" He applauded. However, it was then that he noticed he was flying straight for the enemy flagship.

"Oh skittles!" He whispered and crashed right into the bridge, blowing his ship up. From afar, Lloyd paused a bit when he saw Gloyd's ship collide with the flagship, and his jaw dropped.

"Poor little idiot committed suicide," He whispered. "Isn't that a shame."

* * *

Inside the flagship, Vanellope began unleashing bombs on the engine units, damaging it. However, Penelope dove inside the room and bolted towards Vanellope.

"You will not win!" She shouted, aiming her gun at Vanellope. However, the president planted another bomb on the engine and glitches out of the way. Penelope was running so fast she couldn't stop herself and ran right into the engine just as it exploded.

Vanellope watched as the Nightmare Queen was obliterated in the ensuing blast, and smiled. Checking the point meter on her watch, Vanellope grinned when she saw the points she had gotten.

**Sugar Rush Racers: 175/180**

**Nightmare Racers: 160/180**

"Nothing's going to stop us now!" Vanellope shouted. Just at that moment, she was shot from behind by Tovar, who had regained consciousness.

Gasping in shock, Vanellope dropped on the ground, gasping in pain. "No," She whispered before expiring in front of Tovar.

* * *

From in the space battle, Swiss flew closely behind Sticky and Torvald, who were each piloting Republic star fighters. Slamming his ship into Sticky's, Swiss smiled as she lost control and crashed into Torvald, blowing up both of their ships.

With them out of the way, Swiss flew his ship towards the main bridge of the Sugar Rush Racer's flagship, which was already heavily damaged from recent gunfire. Screaming like a berserker, Swiss fired all his weapons at the bridge, blowing it up instantly.

The moment the bridge was destroyed, the Nightmare's points sky-rocketed past the point meter.

The Nightmares had won again.

One by one, the racers and their ships all vanished and were transported into the Death Star in front of The Emperor.

Vanellope collapsed on her knees. "NO!" She cried out, throwing her arms into the air. "This isn't happening!"

She began beating her tiny fists on the ground pathetically as The Emperor watched in confusion. He turned and stared at Dark Vader, who simply shrugged in response.

"Oh yeah, we won, we beat you, you lost!" Penelope taunted, somersaulting around a weeping Vanellope.

"Hey, great game," Snowanna congratulated towards Joanna, who nodded in respect. Vanellope and Penelope stopped and turned to stare at the other racers.

"Nice job!"

"You Sugar Rush Racers almost won!"

"This was fun!"

Vanellope furrowed her eyebrows and stomped towards the Sugar Rush Racers. "Hey, are your codes twisted or something?!" She berated her subjects. "We lost!"

"Yeah, but it was only a game," Rancis defended.

"Who cares if it's a game?!" Vanellope shouted. "We have to win this thing! We can't let those palette swaps overshadow us!" With that, she stomped away.

The racers all turned to each other. "What was that about?" Gloyd asked.

"I have no idea," Lloyd said with a shrug, but then grinned. "However, someone owes me a pumpkin patch."

* * *

_And that's the end of the chapter. Reviews are appreciated._


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